History of the monument

In 1163, on the Île de la Cité, on the foundations of ancient Christian shrines, Bishop Maurice de Sully laid the foundation stone of Notre-Dame de Paris.

This marked the beginning of a bold project that would last for almost two centuries.

The cathedral's exceptional dimensions were unrivalled until the cathedrals of Amiens and Reims were built, making it the largest religious building in the West until the mid-13th century.

Highly modern for its time, the cathedral features a five-vessel nave  , a non-protruding transept  and a choir with a double ambulatory. At the turn of the 1220s and 1230s, the cathedral underwent a major transformation with the adoption of the Radiant Gothic style for the upper sections, the roses and their transepts, allowing the choir to be illuminated more brightly.the towers of Notre-Dame de Paris were finally completed around 1250, shortly after the consecration of the Sainte-Chapelle de Paris, the new neighbour on the Île de la Cité, on 26 April 1248.

Victor Hugo's famous novel, Notre-Dame de Paris, was a huge success from the moment it was published in 1831, marking a revival of interest in the Middle Ages and their monuments.

Around the cathedral, the writer recreates the bustling life of 15th-century Paris through a melodramatic plot set in a historical setting. A large part of the novel's action takes place in the towers, described by Hugo as the "harmonious parts of a magnificent whole".

It is only some forty years after the Revolution, and the destruction and looting of castles and religious buildings have left many monuments in ruins.

This was the start of a new awareness of heritage and the beginning of a policy to restore monuments in France, supported in particular by Prosper Mérimée, then Inspector General of Historic Monuments.

Victor Hugo helped to raise public awareness of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, convinced that "great buildings, like great mountains, are the work of the centuries". In 1842, he signed a petition in favour of the cathedral, highlighting its extreme destitution. Thanks to him, restoration work began in 1844.

Over the course of the 20^th and 21^st centuries, Notre-Dame has also undergone some significant changes.

The cathedral survived the two world wars without suffering any significant damage, but for the duration of these conflicts, Paris did not hear its bells ringing.

On 26 August 1944, after the surrender of German troops in Paris, General de Gaulle triumphantly walked down the Champs-Élysées, followed by the crowds. Cheered on by two million Parisians, he made his way to Notre-Dame to celebrate a symbolic magnificat of victory.

Following the fire in 2019, a major restoration campaign has been carried out, and the cathedral will soon reopen its doors.