The Cathedral of Notre Dame, real masterpiece of Gothic architecture, has inspired poets, artists, musicians and writers like François Villon, Victor Hugo and Paul Claudel.
The recent successful musical Notre Dame de Paris directed by Luc Plamandon and Riccardo Cocciante has confirmed its splendor and glory.
The Cathedral, known all over the world, has played an important role in the political and religious life of France.
Notre Dame is, with 12 millions of tourists every year, the most visited French monument after the Eiffel Tower.
It represents without any doubts an emblematic monument of the history of the country: for its architecture and the masterpieces that it keeps, for its central position in the Ile de la Cité and for the role that it has played in the history of France.

Notre-Dame de Paris, commonly called Notre-Dame, is not the biggest French cathedral but it's one of the most beautiful and fascinating of the whole country.
The West face overtops the square of Notre Dame called place Jean-Paul II.
A bronze plaque, embedded on the floor, represents the point zero of all distances, towards all distances from Paris.
Given that the construction of the cathedral has taken several decades, its style is quite heterogeneous and lacks of uniformity.
Primitive gothic and radiant gothic are mixed up and the West face represents a real example of architectural balance.
The construction of the cathedral began under the episcopacy of Maurice de Sully, during the XII century, and continued for 200 years until 1345.
Napoleon was crowned king, in Notre-Dame, in presence of the Pope Pio VII on 2 December 1804.

After the violent and bloody revolutionary period, the cathedral was seriously undamaged and important works of reconstruction had been started, in 1844, by the architects, Lassus and Viollet-le-Duc.
The second renovation of the religious building began in 1994 and lasted 10 years.
The rose window of the South side of the cathedral is one of the biggest of Europe and measures 12 meters.
The visit of the towers, about 70 meters high, is possible by passing through the "gallerie des Chimeres" and it offers one of the most beautiful panoramic views of Paris.
After having climbed 387 steps and arrived at the top of the tower, you will admire the upper part of the facade that dates back to the XIII century and that is characterized by a great number of decorations and gargoyles.
The access to the Towers is located outside the cathedral in the rue du cloitre Notre-Dame.
The archaeological crypt situated under the square of Notre Dame has opened to public on 1980.



Useful information

Address:
6, Place du Parvis de Notre-Dame
75004 Paris

Tel.: 01.42.34.56.10

Access:
Saint Michel

Hours:
Everyday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Rates:
Free. A ticket is needed to acces the Towers.

For more information:
www.cathedraledeparis.com