Notre-Dame de Paris

The 850-year-old cathedral that survived the fire

Notre-Dame is the heart of Paris, a huge cathedral built 850 years ago. Stone 'gargoyles' sit on its roof — statues like dragons and monkeys that spout rainwater from their mouths! Its stained-glass windows are shaped like roses. In 2019 a great fire destroyed the roof and spire, but the whole world helped and the cathedral reopened in 2024. Victor Hugo's 'Hunchback of Notre-Dame' is set here.

Notre-Dame (1163–1345) on the Île de la Cité in the Seine is a masterpiece of French Gothic: 128 m long, 69 m towers, a 96 m spire (19th century, Viollet-le-Duc); its flying buttresses let the walls be thin and the windows huge. Three rose windows (13 m across, 13th century). The gargoyles are water spouts; the chimeras are 19th-century decoration. Events: the coronation of Henry VI (1431), Napoleon's coronation (1804), the liberation Te Deum (1944). Damaged in the Revolution, it was saved by Hugo's novel (1831), which launched its restoration. On 15 April 2019 fire brought down the oak 'forest' roof (1,300 13th-century trees) and the spire, but the towers stood; €850 million in donations and 2,000 craftspeople led to reopening on 8 December 2024. France's 'kilometre zero' lies in front of the cathedral. 12 million visitors a year.

Fun facts

• The cathedral's roof was made from 1,300 oak trees — it was called 'the forest'.
• After the fire, €850 million was raised around the world.
• All of France's roads are measured from 'kilometre zero' in front of Notre-Dame.