Cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris

See also: Notre-Dame de Paris

Notre-Dame de Paris , for Parisian the Notre-Dame , is the Cathédrale of the catholic archdiocese of Paris.

Notre-Dame de Paris is not largest of the French cathedrals, but it is indisputably one of most remarkable than produced the Gothic architecture in France and was during its completion the largest cathedral of Christendom. This masterpiece, one of the most known symbols of the French capital, is located at the end of the island of the City, historical center of the city, very close to the banks of the Seine. Its Western frontage dominates the Parvis Notre-Dame - place Jean-Paul II. A bronze plate encrusted in the ground is used as item zero of all the distances from the roads starting from Paris.

Construction being extended over many decades (one century) on the site of old pagan temples, the style is not total uniformity; it thus has characters of the primitive Gothic (sexpartite vaults of the nave) and radiant Gothic : the audacity of propping up chorus is particularly noticed. Its Western frontage is a masterpiece of architectural balance.

After the revolutionary upheaval, the cathedral underwent a restoration important and sometimes discussed by the great architect Purple-the-Duke of 1844 to 1864, who incorporated elements and reasons there that the monument bequeathed by the Moyen  Age had never had.

The first cathedral of Paris dates from second half of the 4th century. It was in the west of the current building; its frontage measured 36 meters and its length was of 70 meters. Lines of marble columns separated five Nef S. the building was decorated mosaics. The presence of a baptistry is attested before 451.

  • the construction, started under the reign of Louis VII with the bishop Maurice de Sully, lasted of 1163 with 1345. At that time, Paris only one was not évêché, suffragan of the archbishop of Sens.
  • It is here that Napoleon I {{er}} crowned emperor of the French, in the presence of the pope Pie VII, the December 2nd 1804.
  • It was restored (and somewhat altered, for example the southern pink is swivelled of fifteen degrees in order to make it rest on a vertical axis) at the 19th century by Purple-the-Duke.

Just at the level overhanging the three gates, one observes the gallery of the Kings de Juda (and not of kings de France). These reconstitutions are the work of Purple-the-Duke (it represented itself besides there) and the original fragments can be observed with the museum of the Moyen  Age with the hôtel  de  Cluny in Paris.

Its Rosette of the southern arm of the transept, one of largest of Europe, measurement 12 meters diameter.

Notre-Dame de Paris east, with more than 12 per annum (2005), monument visitor million of France and perhaps of Europe more visited in front of the Eiffel tower. The cathedral has been known in the whole world for more than five centuries. It is also the place of the capital visited in very first place and mass by the Chinese of passage to Paris.

History

Notre-Dame well before her completion is the place of grinds religious and political events French history:

  • Saint Louis deposits there the crown of spines Christ in 1239, while waiting for the completion of the construction of the the Ste Chapelle.

  • Philippe Beautiful the opens there the first General states Kingdom of France in 1302
  • Couronnement of the young king Henri VI of England in 1430
  • Ouverture of the lawsuit of rehabilitation of Jeanne d' Arc in 1456
  • Mariage of Marguerite de Valois, and of Henri de Navarre, future Henri IV in 1572
  • Bossuet pronounces the Funeral oration there large Cop in 1687
  • Napoleon Bonaparte crowns there (all alone) emperor of the French, in the presence ofthe pope Black and white VII on December 2nd, 1804
  • Baptism of the King de Rome in June 1811
  • Marriage of Napoleon III on January 30th, 1853
  • Baptism of the imperial Prince in 1856
  • Mass of Te Deum , in action of thanks to God, for the end of the Second world war, on May 9th, 1945
  • national Funeral of: Maurice Bars (1923), marshal Foch (1929), marshal Joffre (1931), president Raymond Poincaré (1934), marshal Leclerc de Hautecloque (1947), marshal of Lattre de Tassigny (01/1952), Paul Claudel (02/1955), marshal June (1967), general Charles de Gaulle (12/11/1970), Abbot Pierre, born Henri Grouès, (national homage the 1/26/07).

Structure

Like the majority of the French cathedrals, Notre-Dame de Paris has a outline drawing of Latin cross.

Principal dimensions:

  • length: 130 meters
  • width: 48 meters
  • height under vault: 35 meters
  • height of the turns: 69 meters
  • width of the frontage: 40 meters.
  • length of the chorus: 38 meters
  • length of the transept: 48 meters
The Nef comprises ten spans, the chorus five. The axis of this one is slightly deviated compared to the axis of the nave. The Abside is semicircular with five sides. The nave is flanked collateral doubles which are prolonged by a double Déambulatoire, the whole with Chapelle side (except on the first three spans) and radiant (either 37 on the whole). It could contain to 3000 people.

Built before the chorus, the nave concerns the first Gothic style, with Voûte S sexpartite, however without alternation of strong piles and weak piles as one sees it with Sens.

The Transept, quite identifiable of the outside of the monument, does not make not covered compared to the collateral ones and with the side chapels. It does not have the collateral ones.

Interior rise is on three levels, with large arcades, platforms and windows high.

The frontages north and south of the Transept decorate splendid Rosace S decorated with stained glasses, among largest of Europe (diameter: 13 m).

External architectural elements

Turns

With the passing of years, it was suggested on several occasions that the original plans of Notre-Dame envisaged two arrows which would rise turns. The solids bell-towers could without any doubt have supported such structures. But it is not in so far as they were supposed being equipped with arrows. The cathedral of Amiens as of other cathedrals followed the model of Notre-Dame and do not have either arrows (however, the cathedral of Rheims should have had some, according to the initial plans, but they were never completed). During the restoration which took place between 1844 and 1864, the idea of the arrows was again suggested. The restorer Purple-the-Duke, wanting at all costs to ruin the project, drew a very precise plan of the cathedral with such arrows in order to show with the population the nightmarish result to which this project would lead. Ironically, certain experts affirmed since, on the basis of its plan, that Purple-the-Duke was itself in favor of these arrows.

The gallery of the kings

À twenty meters of the ground, a series of twenty-eight royal characters represents the twenty-eight generations of the kings of Judaea who preceded the Christ. Each statue measures more than three meters fifty top. The heads of the statues date from the 19th century and are the product of the workshops of sculpture of the restorer Purple-the-Duke. Indeed, the statues of origin were decapitated in 1793 during the French revolution by the Sans-culottes, who, wrongly, believed that these statues represented sovereigns of the kingdom of France. There remain today only fragments of the medieval statues. The original heads were found in 1977, at the time of work undertaken for the restoration of the Moreau hotel in IXe district of Paris, and are currently exposed to the museum of Cluny.

The gate of the Last Judgment

Il acts of the principal gate of the cathedral. Its imagery is seizing. It represents the last judgment - when, according to the Christian tradition, deaths ressuscitent and are judged by the Christ. On the lower lintel, one can see deaths leaving their tombs. Above, an angel uses a balance to weigh the sins and the virtues. The elected officials are on the left, and, pushed on the right by demons with the diabolic glances, damnés connected are carried out in Enfer. On the higher tympanum, the Christ chairs this divine court.
Il acts there of a quite concrete demonstration of the Christian imagery developed with the Moyen  Age by the Church, which then influences largely the peuple.
La scene of the Last Judgment is also reproduced on many other cathedrals.

The square

Le square is the great open zone being right in front of the western frontage. The word square comes from Latin paradisius , paradise . When the cathedral was built, the square was rather narrow. The cathedral was located among innumerable buildings out of wooden of small size, such as houses, shops and inns. The square preserved modest dimensions until the 18th century, time to which the Beaufrand architect increases it. It was reorganized on several occasions thereafter, in particular since 1960. Kilometer 0 of the French highways is on the square, with a few meters of the entry of the cathedral.

The western frontage

The western frontage is large, at the same time rigorous and linear, in an astonishing way the circle of the stained glass of the Rosace emphasizes. Many observers noticed that the general effect is similar to that of a Hostie.

The gate of the Virgin

Ce gate is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The Virgin Mary is in top of the tympanum, sitting with the right-hand side of the Christ; and an angel, being above it, place a gold crown on its head. Note the pointed groove in the wall around the arcs of the tympanum. The builders wanted that this gate is different from different in the honor from the Virgin.

The gate of Holy Anne

Ce gate, dedicated to the life of Holy Anne, the mother of the Virgin , is known mainly because of the polemic concerning the two characters being reproduced on the tympanum. Around a group including/understanding a Virgin majestic holding Jesus-Christ child in his arms and two angels are two characters: a bishop and a king. The tradition wants that these characters represent the bishop Maurice de Sully, founder of Notre-Dame, and Louis VII, king de France at the time. But certain experts question this theory and support that the religious character is Saint Germain, bishop of Paris at the 6th century, and that the king is Childebert {{Ier}}, wire of Clovis. Other experts even affirm that these characters cannot be identified.

The balcony of the Virgin

Cette statue of the Vierge devotes the totality of the frontage to the mother of the Christ. She was ordered by Purple-the-Duke to replace the original statue of the medieval time, severely damaged by the years and the climatic conditions. The Rosace western being behind this statue constitutes a splendid aureole. Purple-the-Duke also placed statues of Adam and Eve in front of the bays on each side of the Rosace. It acts there, according to the majority of the experts, the principal error of Purple-the-Duke in a restoration which, if not, can be described as remarkable. All seems to prove that no statue existed on this site. The statues of Adam and Eve would have in fact due being placed in recesses of the wall furthest away from the southern arm of the Transept.

The western rosette

Cette Rosace seems enormous, but although it is of considerable size, it is acted in fact of smallest of the three Rosace S of the cathedral. It measures nine meters sixty of diameter.

The gate of Etienne Saint

Cette door is at the level of the southern arm of the Transept. The tympanum tells the life of the first Martyr Christian, holy Etienne, according to the Acts of the Apostles.

The gate of the cloister

Ce gate is at the level of the northern arm of the Transept. The lower lintel represents scenes of the childhood of the Christ. These sculptures are among the most beautiful works carved on this topic.

The red gate

Le project superintendent Pierre de Montreuil built this small door, called for obvious reasons “the red gate”, between 1250 and 1270. Louis IX, better known under the name of Saint Louis, had commissioned it. It is presented on the tympanum on the left of the Vierge, crowned by an angel. The wife of Saint Louis, Marguerite of Provence, is on the right Christ.

The apse

The Abside is consisted a half-circle located in the part more at the east of the cathedral. It was built during the first phase of construction, of 1163 to 1180. A series of propping up admirable supports its wall higher round-off. It is decorated with sculptures and panels representing inter alia episodes of the life of the Vierge.

The roof

Dans its will, Maurice de Sully left the sum of five thousand sums of money for the roof of the cathedral, which was covered only with temporary materials until its death in 1196. The roof is covered with 1326 lead tiles.

The arrow

La first arrow was built above crossed Transept in the middle of the 13th century. Such high arrows suffer from the wind which folds and weakens their structures. The arrow is deformed slowly, the solids are distorted, until the total collapse. The arrow of origin was dismounted in 1786, after more than five centuries of existence. The cathedral remained without arrow until the restoration directed by Purple-the-Duke in the middle of the 19th century. This arrow is kept by the statues of the 12 apostles (had in four lines - at each cardinal points - 3 apostles, those Ci being placed the one below of the others). All are turned towards Paris, except one of them, Pierre. That Ci resembles curiously Purple-the-Duke, the architect of the arrow. It is a small historical joke of this great architect and restorer.

The bell

The large bell whose François Villon in his Large Will, gone back to 1461 speaks, had been given in 1400 to the cathedral by Jean de Montaigu, brother of the bishop of Paris, which had baptized it Jacqueline, of the name of his Jacqueline wife of the Barn. Jacqueline was remelted in 1686 by foundry foremen Chapelle, Gillot, Moreau and Florentin Guay, and accepted a new baptism in the name of Louise-Marie-Therese, queen of France, woman of Louis XIV. Jacqueline weighed only fifteen thousands (7500 kilograms). Marie-Therese weighs a little more of the double (16000 kilograms or 16 tons metric). The leaf only weighs with him 485 kilograms. The thickness of the bell is of 28 cm; the perimeter is of 4 meters. A Latin inscription, placed in relief, reports its adventures and its transformations.

The Emmanuel bell, located in top of the 422 steps of the southern Tower, weighs 13 ton S, the pinnacle with him only weighing 500 kilos. It is told that when it was remelted in 1685, the women threw in the molten metal their gold jewels, giving to the bell his single tone out of F sharp.

Large Organ

The instrument

Les Grandes Organ of Notre-Dame de Paris results from successive work several great organ builders: Thierry in 1733, François-Henri Clicquot in 1788, Aristide Cavaillé-coll in 1867 and Bushel since 1960, with the collaboration of Synaptel in 1992.

In the beginning, they included/understood 86 plays. At present, after multiple additions and restoration, they count 113 plays since 1992. The transmission became numerical for the five keyboards as well as the pulling of the 113 plays.

List recent holders

The treasure of Notre-Dame de Paris

It is consisted of the Crown of Spines and a fragment of the Cross as well as a nail of the latter. Are presented to the public only the reliquaries that Napoleon {{Ier}} and Napoleon III created to accommodate them.

The cathedral and the novel

Notre-Dame de Paris is the title of a famous novel of Victor Hugo published in 1831: the cathedral is used as decoration with the screen of the account: Low Sunday, the deformed bell ringer and its impossible love for the dancer Esmeralda gipsy, itself object of the desire of the renegade priest Frollo. This novel relates to two quite distinct subjects: traditional history of compassion and heroism, and reaction of Victor Hugo vis-a-vis the modifications which mutilated the boldness of the Moyen  Age, which is in phase with the romanticism and the catholics who want to return to enthusiasm “  naïve  ”.

Notre-Dame in arts

Songs

  • Notre-Dame de Paris (Edith Piaf)
  • Notre-Dame de Paris: Musical comedy (Helene Ségara, Daniel Lavoie, Garou, Bruno Pelletier, Patrick Fiori, Luck Mervil, Julie Zenatti - Luc Plamondon and Richard Cocciante)

Literature: cartoons

Literature: novels

Literature for youth

  • Aton and Sophie with discovered of Notre-Dame (Allard, Viviane)
  • Enigma in Notre-Dame (Helene Laserre)
  • the Marmot of Notre-Dame (Philippe Legendre-Kvater)
  • Brigands of the Saint-Michel (Jean-Marc Be)
  • Notre-Dame de Paris (Marguerite Grassioulet)
  • Simon, builder of cathedral (Jacqueline Mirande)
  • the night of Zéfirottes (Claude Ponti)

Documentary works

  • Notre-Dame de Paris (editions A. Leconte)
  • Notre-Dame de Paris (Alain Erlande-Brandenburg)
  • Notre-Dame de Paris: with the crossroads of the cultures (Coloni Marijuana)
  • Around Notre-Dame

See too

Related articles

External bonds

  • Official site Cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris
  • Card on the site of the Ministry for the culture

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