Notre Dame - Interesting and Lesser Known Facts

by Praveen - May 11, 2020

NOTRE DAME DE PARIS

Notre-Dame Cathedral is one of the most famous landmarks in Paris, drawing around 13 million visitors every year. It is considered as a jewel of medieval Gothic architecture and thousands of tourists enter its doors to capture a glimpse of its rose windows and flying buttresses.

Notre Dame- Interesting and lesser known facts [Travel Moksh]

The Notre-Dame Cathedral – fully called Notre-Dame de Paris (Our Lady of Paris) in French is the seat of the archbishop of Paris.

Notre-Dame de Paris has centuries of French history built into its stone. It is the most famous Gothic cathedrals of the Middle Ages and is distinguished for its size, antiquity, and architectural interest.

The construction of the cathedral began in 1163 on a small island called the Île de la Cité, in the middle of the Seine and got completed in 1345, towering at a height of 69 meters (226 feets).

After initiating the construction, flying buttresses were added to the structural design of the cathedral. The design was meant to hold the thin, tall, Gothic-style walls and to prevent cracks in them. The flying buttresses were meant to provide support to the structure while matching the cathedral’s Gothic style.

Notre-Dame Cathedral has suffered huge damage and deterioration over the period through the centuries. After Napolean (after French Revolution) who crowned himself the emperor of the France in 1804, Notre-Dame underwent major restorations by the French architect Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc in the mid-19th century And after that it has faced several restorations till now. In one of such restoration campaign in 2019, a fire broke out in the cathedral’s attic, The Viollet-le-Duc’s 19th century spire iconic towering spire fell down as flames surrounded the building leaving just a skeleton of the building.

Here are ten interesting and lesser-known facts about this religious and architectural masterpiece in Paris that anyone should know.

Cathedral is built over remnants of a temple
There is a ‘Forest’ under its roof
Point Zero- All roads lead to the cathedral
First structure built with flying buttresses
The Towers are not twins
Statue Heads of 21 kings were found
The Cathedral’s Chimeras are modern not medieval
Napoleon and Victor Hugo were responsible for revival of the Cathedral
Cathedral’s Bells were once melted to make artilleries
Notre-Dame De Paris is the Most Visited Monument in the Paris

Notre-Dame Cathedral is built over remnants of a temple

The cathedral's construction was completed in 1345 and the Île de la Cité (City Island) on which this Cathedral now stands, was once a Gallo-Roman city known as Lutetia. It is believed that it was built over the remnants of a temple.

There is a ‘Forest’ under its roof

The cathedral has a literal forest in its roof as it contains one of the oldest surviving wood-timber frames in Paris. The frame is made up of more than 1300 trees and each beam of this cathedral that holds the massive structure straight up, is made from an individual tree.

The Notre-Dame is 127m (Length) *48m(Width)*43m(Height) and with such huge dimensions, it is surprising to know that the entire roof structure is made up of wood, back in 12^th century. For this reason, the roof structure is commonly nicknamed as “Forest”.

Point Zero- All roads lead to the cathedral

Point Zero- the official reference point in Paris. It is the point from which distances are measured from Paris to other cities in France and was placed there in 1924.

Indeed, on the square in front of the church, a Mostly overlooked beneath the crowd of tourists, it is a diminutive circular marker with an eight-pointed bronze star embedded in the cobblestones. It is engraved with a compass and the words Point zéro des routes de France.

First structure built with flying buttresses

Notre-Dame De Paris is one of the earliest structures built with exterior flying buttresses. The buttresses were constructed around its nave during the 12th century to provide support to the thin walls, considering the light requirement in this incredibly tall church, larger windows were required, and thus greater support.

The exposed flying buttress of the cathedral has now become an iconic aspect of Gothic design.

The Towers are not twins.

At first glance, Notre-Dame’s two towers appear like identical twins but while observing closely, it is visible that the north tower is slightly bigger than the south tower.

Both the towers were constructed at different times. First tower was south tower that was built between 1220 and 1240 and later north tower was built between 1235 and 1250.

Statue Heads of 21 kings were found

In 1793, in the midst of the French Revolution, 28 statues of biblical kings in the cathedral were pulled down with ropes and decapitated by a mob.

Out of 28 Statues of the biblical kings, 21 heads were re-discovered during repair work on the basement of the French Bank of Foreign Trade. However, they were mistaken for statues of French kings; these statues were actually representations of the kings of Judah.

Now they can be observed in the Musée du Moyen-Âge de Cluny (Middle-Ages Museum of Cluny).

The Cathedral’s Chimeras are modern not medieval

Chimeras and Gargoyles (the carved monsters) are the typical element of Gothic art. People often think that the chimeras, represented on the walls of Notre-Dame are representative of the medieval style of the Cathedral. However, these Gothic arts are not medieval but modern architecture.

Almost the entireties of Gargoyles and Chimeras of the Cathedral have to be replaced every century or 150 years. The Galerie des Chimères on the towers have in fact, been added between 1843 and 1864 during the radical restoration overseen by Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc.

Napoleon and Victor Hugo were responsible for revival of the Cathedral

At the start of 19^th century, Napolean Bonaparte became the Emperor of France. That time Notre-Dame was in the very bad shape and for many years it had been used as a warehouse during French Revolution.

So, Napoléon decided to start the renovation of Cathedral and in an event in which he crowned himself, he declared its return to church use.

Later in 1831, Victor Hugo's historical novel Notre-Dame de Paris invoked awareness in the minds of the people to understand the true value of this Cathedral.

Cathedral’s Bells were once melted to make artilleries

Kings were not the only part of the cathedral that had been destroyed during the French Revolution. Even 20 of its bells, except the colossal 1681 bourdon called Emmanuel, were removed and melted down to make cannons. The cathedral was transformed from a Christian space to the new Cult of Reason, during the 18th century.

Emmanuel Bell is the largest bell in the South Tower of Notre-Dame, weighs 13 tons (28,000 pounds).

When Bells were replaced in 19^th century, the sound was not matching with the previous bells and bells were making dissonant noise when clanging.

Finally in 2013, to celebrate the 850^th anniversary of Notre-Dame, a new ensemble of bells restored the sound of 17^th century bells and the chimes renewed.

Notre-Dame De Paris is the Most Visited Monument in the Paris

France is one of the most visited countries in the world. Surprisingly enough, Notre Dame De Paris is the most visited monument within the Paris city limits, leaving the Eiffel Tower behind.

More than 13 million visitors pass through the gate of Notre-Dame every year. This means the Cathedral welcomes around 35 thousand visitors a day which is more than the population of 99% of towns of France.

These are the facts that common people are generally unaware of.

If you are planning to visit Notre-Dame De Paris and want to avoid the crowds, I recommend you arrive early. The gates open at 7:45AM and generally visitors arrive a bit later, so take advantage of the early hours to visit the grandiose monument without thousands of people around.

Tags : 2020, Europe, France, Paris

Notre Dame - Interesting and Lesser Known Facts