NOTRE DAME

The builder of this remarkable architectural wonder, was Maurice de Sully, bishop of Paris in 1163. He built it for the expanding population, and dedicated it to the Virgin Mary.

Crusaders prayed here before leaving on their holy wars, and polyphonic music developed in the cathedral. It was also here that Napoléon, wishing to emphasize the primacy of the state over the church, crowned himself emperor, and then crowned Joséphine, his Martinique-born wife, as his empress.

Notre Dame construction started in 1163, it was not completed until roughly 180 years later in about 1345. On completion of the choir in 1183, work began on the nave and was completed in c.1208, followed by the west front and towers in c.1225-1250. A series of chapels were added to the nave during the period 1235-50, and to the apse during 1296-1330 (Pierre de Chelles and Jean Ravy). Transept crossings were built in 1250-67 by Jean de Chelles and Pierre de Montreuil (also the architect of the Sainte-Chapelle).

Notre Dame is located on the eastern half of the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France.

This monument was built as a cathedral for the ever expanding population of Paris.

Cool Facts!!
•Citizens mistook statues of saints above the portals on the west front for representations of their kings, and, in the midst of their revolutionary fervor, took them down.
•In 1768, geographers decided that all distances in France would be measured from Notre-Dame.
•The three portals depict, from left to right, the Last Judgment; the Madonna and Child; St. Anne, the Virgin's mother; and Mary's youth until the birth of Jesus.
•The appearance of the interior was radically transformed in the mid-13th century when the small clerestory windows typical of the Early Gothic style were enlarged downward and filled with High Gothic tracery.

GARGOYLES

STAINED GLASS WINDOWS

WORKS CITED

• http://www.discoverfrance.net/France/Cathedrals/Paris/Notre-Dame.shtml
• http://www.notredamecathedralparis.com/facts
• http://goparis.about.com/od/sightsattractions/p/Notre_Dame.htm
• http://www.parisdigest.com/monument/notredam.htm
• Haiku Deck