Notre Dame - November 24, 08

No other building is so associated with the history of Paris as Notre Dame. It stands majestically on the Ile de la Cite, cradle of the city. Pope Alexander III laid the first stone in 1163, marking the start of 170 years of toil by armies of Gothic architects and medieval craftsmen. Ever since, a procession of the famous has passed through the three main doors below the massive towers.

The cathedral is a Gothic masterpiece, standing on the side of a Roman temple. At the time it was finished, in about 1330, it was 430 feet long and featured flying buttresses, a large transept, a deep choir and 228 feet high towers.

The interior grandeur is strikingly apparent in its high vaulted central nave. This is bisected by a huge transept, at either end of which is a medieval rose windows that is 43 feet in dimater. Works by major sculptures adorn the cathedral. Among them are Jean Ravy's old choice screen carvings, Nicolas Coustou's Pieta and Antoine Coysevox's Louis XIV statue. In this majestic setting kings and emperors were crowned and royal Crusaders were blessed. But Notre Dame was also the scene of turmoil. Revolutionaries ransacked it, banished religion, changed it into a temple to the Cult of Reason and then used it was a wine store. Napoleon restored religion in 1804, and the Viollet-le-Duc later restored pieces too.

You wern't allowed to take pictures inside the cathedral, but I did sneak a few in before being madam'd. lol. There were lots of priests and nuns walking around in Notre Dame too.

Notre Dame. Beautiful isn't it! The round window in the middle depicts the Virgin in a medallion of rich reds and blues. Below the windows is a row of statues called the Kings Gallery. It features 28 Kings of Judah above the main door gazing down.

Here I am standing on point zero in front of Notre Dame. Point Zero is a mark from which all distance are measured in France.

The North Rose Window is a 13-th century stained glass windows, depicting the Virgin encircled by figures from the Old Testament, it is 69 feet high.

The South Rose Window located at the south end of the transept. This window retains some of its original 13th century stained glass. The window depicts Christ in the center, surrounded by virgins, saints and the 12 Apostles.