View Full Version : Notre Dame de Paris | Paris, France


Matthieu
December 18th, 2004, 09:25 PM
History


Notre-Dame de Paris stands on the site of Saint Etienne basilica, which was itself built on the site of a Gallo-Roman temple to Jupiter. Saint Etienne basilica was founded by Childebert in 528, and became the cathedral of the city of Paris in the 10th century. However, in 1160, having become the "parish church of the kings of Europe", Bishop Maurice de Sully deemed the building unworthy of its lofty role, and had it demolished.

Construction began in 1163, during the reign of Louis VII, and opinion differs as to whether Bishop Maurice de Sully or Pope Alexander III laid the foundation stone of the cathedral. Construction of the west front, with its distinctive two towers, only began in around 1200, before the nave had been completed. Over the construction period, numerous architects worked on the site, as is evidenced by the differing styles at different heights of the west front and towers. Between 1210 and 1220, the fourth architect oversaw the construction of the level with the rose window, and the great halls beneath the towers. The towers were completed around 1245, and the cathedral was completed around 1345.

During the reign of Louis XIV and Louis XV, at the end of the 17th century, the cathedral underwent major alterations - tombs and stained glass windows were destroyed. During the French Revolution, at the end of the 18th century, many of the cathedral's treasures were destroyed or stolen. The cathedral's great bells avoided being melted down, but the cathedral was used as a warehouse for the storage of food.

A restoration program was initiated in 1845, overseen by architects Jean-Baptiste-Antoine Lassus and Eugene Viollet-le-Duc. The restoration lasted 23 years, and included the construction of a spire.

In 1871, a civil uprising leading to the establishment of the short-lived Paris Commune nearly set fire to the cathedral, and some records suggest that a mount of chairs within the cathedral were set alight.

In 1991, a major program of maintenance and restoration was initiated, which was intended to last 10 years, but is still in progress.

Significant events at Notre Dame

* Napoleon Bonaparte, who had declared the Empire on May 28, 1804, was crowned Emperor at Notre-Dame on December 2, 1804.

* The Te Deum Mass took place in the cathedral to celebrate the liberation of Paris in August 26, 1944.

* The Requiem Mass of General Charles de Gaulle took place in the cathedral on November 12, 1970.




http://www.uiowa.edu/~c009113/images/notredamefacade.jpg

http://www.marie-stuart.co.uk/images/NotreDame2.jpg

http://www.fno.org/exhibits/cathedral/nd9.jpg

http://www.eskimo.com/~rwb/images/europe/19-paris-notre-dame.jpg

http://imagesgaulois.tripod.com/004_dameS.jpg

http://www.teaser.fr/~bdebreil/paris01.gif

http://www.artlex.com/ArtLex/r/images/rosewndw_notrdm.par.int.lg.jpg

http://www.camt.usyd.edu.au/people/zqsu/EuroSummer/temp/Paris%20Notre%20Dame%20Tower%2004.jpg

http://www.spudles.com/travels/Europe2002Pics/Paris%20-%20Notre%20Dame%20-%20Entrance.jpg

http://www.westminster.net/faculty/boller/French%20V%20Civ/Paris/Paris%20slides/Notre-Dame-jpeg.jpg

http://www1.cs.columbia.edu/~sedwards/photos/paris2002/Images/P3011042%20Notre%20Dame%20Int.jpg

http://bode.diee.unica.it/~giua/SEBASTIAN/anon-notre-dame-paris.jpg

http://perso.wanadoo.fr/jerome.lafourcade/IMG/Tourisme/notre_dame/Notre%20dame%20de%20Paris%20vue%20ensemble2.jpg

http://www.camt.usyd.edu.au/people/zqsu/EuroSummer/temp/Paris%20Notre%20Dame%20Tower%2001.jpg

http://www.australienbilder.de/paris/bilder/paris2.jpg

http://www.cgdesignsgroup.com/Images/highres/Notre-Dame-Paris.jpg

http://www.eveandersson.com/photos/france/paris/620-notre-dame-interior-large.jpg

http://romanes2.free.fr//Notre_Dame_de_Paris0090.jpg

http://romanes2.free.fr//Notre_Dame_de_Paris-90200033.2.jpg

http://romanes2.free.fr//Notre_Dame_de_Paris0001-2-2.jpg

http://romanes2.free.fr//Notre_Dame_de_Paris-90200028.jpg

http://romanes2.free.fr//Notre_Dame_de_Paris-90200018.jpg

Phobos
December 18th, 2004, 10:59 PM
8.5/10
the cathedral has the best rose-window among all the cathedrals in Europe.

Fly Pan Am
December 20th, 2004, 01:20 AM
9/10

DamienK
December 21st, 2004, 11:59 AM
9/10

Fabio
January 24th, 2005, 11:06 PM
9.5/10

the laterals and back are awesome, but the front isn't so perfect.

Monkey
April 16th, 2005, 03:56 PM
Fantastic building, but those pics are crap. Way too blurry and grainy.

Does anyone have any better pics?

Ellatur
April 16th, 2005, 05:04 PM
9/10

eievar
April 16th, 2005, 05:20 PM
ok, not the best gothic cathedral, but i love it. great!

9/10

Menino de Sampa
April 16th, 2005, 06:42 PM
10

Tazmaniadevil
April 16th, 2005, 09:07 PM
10.0 It's THE classic gothic cathedral, and is recognizable pretty much throughout the Western world. It's not my favorite, but it has to rate a 10 for being a model for all gothic churches in the world.

B@dGuYoM
April 16th, 2005, 10:29 PM
10/10

bnmaddict
December 15th, 2005, 03:58 PM
10/10.

forvine
December 15th, 2005, 05:48 PM
9/10

SUNNY
December 16th, 2005, 04:27 PM
7/10 :cheers:

Sinjin P.
December 23rd, 2005, 12:33 PM
8.5/10 ;)

skipperBill
March 12th, 2006, 07:09 AM
10/10.

genci888
March 21st, 2006, 05:03 AM
8.5/10

Bitxofo
March 21st, 2006, 05:31 AM
8.50/10
;)

ChiLooper
March 26th, 2006, 09:11 PM
10/10

El_Greco
April 5th, 2006, 08:06 PM
9/10

Mosaic
April 24th, 2006, 08:05 AM
9/10

crossbowman
July 1st, 2006, 03:29 PM
10/10....awesome :)

Principes
July 2nd, 2006, 04:23 AM
9/10

clarky
July 16th, 2006, 01:59 PM
9/10

Dreamlıneя
August 4th, 2006, 11:04 PM
10 :yes:

gutooo
September 13th, 2006, 06:19 AM
10 to the most famous cathedral of the world!

_zner_
November 11th, 2006, 10:25 AM
9.5 very nice!

Kelsen
December 4th, 2006, 02:24 AM
10/10

SactoSpam
December 4th, 2006, 09:18 PM
This one I like - 10/10

Elektro-X
December 29th, 2006, 08:59 PM
One of the most famous gothic cathedrals, and one of the oldest, right?

9.5/10

erbse
January 5th, 2007, 01:02 AM
8,5/10 :)
Anyway, I'm really missing something on its roof... But I don't know what it is ^.^ Maybe a real spire or something like that...

tuga14
January 6th, 2007, 05:03 AM
10/10

Krzyżak
January 9th, 2007, 07:11 PM
out of hand 10!
:okay:

Tiaren
February 6th, 2007, 09:31 PM
It's overrated, because there are hundreds of cathedrals, who are older, bigger, more spectacular...
I'll give it an 8/10.

Sbz2ifc
February 8th, 2007, 06:26 PM
9.5/10

the laterals and back are awesome, but the front isn't so perfect.

^^ That's exactly what I think about it.

m@rco
March 13th, 2007, 06:17 PM
http://www.naturepixel.com/notre_dame_paris_facade_9.jpg

http://www.naturepixel.com/portail_notre_dame.jpg

http://www.naturepixel.com/tympan_voussures_portail_notre_dame.jpg

http://www.naturepixel.com/tympan_portail_notre_dame_paris_4.jpg

http://www.naturepixel.com/rosace_statues_facade_notre_dame_paris_7.jpg

http://www.naturepixel.com/rosace_statues_facade_notre_dame_paris_9.jpg

m@rco
March 13th, 2007, 06:19 PM
http://photoenligne.free.fr/Top/N13310_NotreDame_Paris.jpg

http://photoenligne.free.fr/Top/N15196_NotreDame_Paris.jpg

W!CKED
March 18th, 2007, 03:31 AM
10!

marpa
July 4th, 2007, 08:10 PM
10/10

Online
July 4th, 2007, 11:18 PM
10/10

Lor86MI
August 19th, 2007, 06:35 PM
It's not the best gothic cathedral, but 7/10

roen
August 20th, 2007, 11:19 PM
7,5

OtAkAw
November 2nd, 2007, 04:37 PM
8, famous and world-renowned. But France is home to better Gothic cathedrals.

Popiel
December 7th, 2007, 01:41 AM
10!!:)

LMCA1990
February 27th, 2008, 05:41 AM
10/10

Nikkodemo
June 23rd, 2008, 07:41 AM
9/10

:)

henry hill
December 1st, 2008, 10:22 PM
10/10

tonyssa
May 31st, 2009, 05:08 PM
9/10

ZZ-II
May 31st, 2009, 09:52 PM
10/10 for sure :cheers:

Jan Del Castillo
September 26th, 2009, 09:06 AM
10. Excellent. Regards.

Liz L
October 26th, 2009, 10:01 PM
9.5 of 10, but that's only because Notre Dame d'Amiens and Notre Dame de Reims blew me away SO completely...

Her west front has, like Chartres, that serenity and dignity that come from beautiful proportions. Viollet le Duc, who directed the 19th c. restoration, drew the west front and added a hypothetical design for the spires that had originally been planned for the towers. Thank God he didn't try to add them, because they weren't needed! She rises to the skies very well as is!

The rose windows dance with the light; the transepts and flying butresses leap upward together without a dissenting line. Magnificent!

A little bit of irony - I've heard of a scholarly conference that met to discuss the question "Were the Middle Ages Civilized?" within a short walk of Notre Dame. Seems to me a little stroll and a good look at the cathedral would have answered their question.... :lol:

I understand that when LeClerc's forces liberated Paris during WW II, the first thing some of the tank crews did after they rumbled into the parvis was to jump out, race up into the towers, and set the bells ringing...now that must have been a WONDERFUL sound!

Srdjan Adamovic
October 27th, 2009, 04:43 PM
9/10

Heroico
January 21st, 2010, 08:23 PM
9.5/10

capricorn2000
January 21st, 2010, 10:34 PM
10/10
just want to post these old photos I shot long time ago which I converted to B&W

http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/1859/paris5a.jpg

http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/9890/paris6a.jpg

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DonKristoffo
January 31st, 2010, 12:14 AM
10/10

c6josh
February 6th, 2010, 05:34 AM
voted 10/10 incredibly amazing!

romanito
August 18th, 2010, 06:18 PM
10/10

yudibali2008
May 31st, 2011, 10:30 AM
10/10

mossimoh
June 19th, 2011, 10:52 PM
10/10

dnh310
June 20th, 2011, 08:55 AM
9/10

Dakaro
January 27th, 2012, 06:16 PM
10/10

SmokingKills
February 9th, 2012, 09:41 PM
9/10

Happy Man
February 25th, 2013, 12:19 PM
9.5/10

Contr
May 14th, 2013, 02:37 PM
10/10