Cathédrale Notre-Dame

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Ministère de la Culture, in French. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Ministère de la Culture; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

History

The cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris is built on the île de la Cité, the ancient cradle of Paris. It succeeds other buildings erected on the same site from the 4th century. Its construction is due to the bishop of Paris Maurice de Sully, who lays the first stone in 1163, in the presence of Pope Alexander III. Several building campaigns succeed each other: construction of the choir and its ambulatory, of the nave and aisles between 1163 and 1225; construction of the galleries, the spire and the two towers between 1225 and 1250. Building work continues throughout the Middle Ages: transept arms, rose windows, arrangement of the chapels of the choir and chevet, rood screen. The bishopric of Paris is elevated to an archbishopric in 1622. At the beginning of the 18th century, the choir is redecorated under the direction of architect Robert de Cotte. The high altar bearing a bas-relief of the vow of Louis XIII is surmounted by a Pietà commissioned from Nicolas Coustou. It is surrounded by statues of Louis XIII and Louis XIV, by Guillaume Coustou and Antoine Coysevox. Work continues throughout the century; medieval stained glass is replaced by white grisaille, while architect Jacques-Germain Soufflot arranges the sacristy and modifies the entrance portals. During the Revolution, the cathedral becomes property of the State, as do all religious buildings, and suffers considerable damage: part of the treasure is melted down, the spire is torn down, the statues of the gallery of kings of Israel on the façade are removed. In 1793, the church is transformed into a Temple of Reason, then into a warehouse, and left in a state of great neglect. Returned to Catholic worship in 1802 following the Concordat, Notre-Dame regains an official role at the instigation of Napoleon, who chooses to be crowned emperor there on 2 December 1804. It is targeted again and plundered during the riots of 1830 and 1831, and continues to deteriorate. The publication of Victor Hugo's novel Notre-Dame de Paris raises public and official awareness of its condition. Decided in 1844, the general restoration of the cathedral is entrusted to two architects awarded the competition opened for this purpose, Eugène Viollet-le-Duc and Jean-Baptiste Lassus. Viollet-le-Duc reconstitutes part of the treasure and furnishings, restores the spire torn down in 1792, imagines the chimeras of the gallery of the towers and reinvents the statues of the portals and of the gallery of kings. He raises a new sacristy, installs new glazing, intervenes on the central portal and in the interior arrangement. The cathedral is notably decorated for the baptism of the Prince Imperial, son of Napoleon III, celebrated in June 1856; building work officially ends on 3 January 1865. Notre-Dame suffers minor damage in 1870-1871, but, unlike many other French cathedrals, is spared by the two world wars. A project for contemporary stained glass in the high windows of the building is developed from 1935, but only comes to fruition in the 1960s. The choir of the church is remodelled several times to adapt to the directives of the Second Vatican Council. The great organ of the 15th century, which still has some pipes from the medieval period, undergoes two campaigns of work in 1990-1992 and 2013-2014. In the year 2000 a major campaign to clean the western façade comes to an end after more than ten years. Many events, in 2013, mark the 850th anniversary of the building. For more information, consult in particular the French Archives portal: https://francearchives.fr/fr/article/163529389, and the Gallica portal of the Bibliothèque nationale de France, https://gallica.bnf.fr/conseils/content/cath%C3%A9drale-notre-dame. The list of objects in the treasure is available on the Palissy database; many photographs from the 19th and 20th centuries are visible on the Mémoire database.