Notre-Dame de Paris

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Notre Dame de Paris: Western Façade

Notre Dame de Paris: exterior of the apse

Flying buttress

Notre Dame de Paris ('Our Lady of Paris' in French), also known as the Notre Dame Cathedral, is a Gothic, Roman Catholic Cathedral on the eastern half of the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France. It is the cathedral of the Catholic archdiocese of Paris: that is, it is the church that contains the "cathedra", or official chair, of the Archbishop of Paris, André Cardinal Vingt-Trois. Notre Dame de Paris is widely considered one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture in the world. It was restored and saved from destruction by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, one of France's most famous architects. The name Notre Dame means "Our Lady" in French, and is frequently used in the names of Catholic church buildings in Francophone countries. Notre Dame de Paris was one of the first Gothic cathedrals, and its construction spanned the Gothic period. Its sculptures and stained glass show the heavy influence of naturalism, unlike that of earlier Romanesque architecture.

Notre Dame de Paris was among the first buildings in the world to use the flying buttress (arched exterior supports). The building was not originally designed to include the flying buttresses around the choir and nave. After the construction began and the thinner walls (popularized in the Gothic style) grew ever higher, stress fractures began to occur as the walls pushed outward. In response, the cathedral's architects built supports around the outside walls, and later additions continued the pattern.

The cathedral suffered desecration during the radical phase of the French Revolution in the 1790s, when much of its religious imagery was damaged or destroyed. During the 19th century, an extensive restoration project was completed, returning the cathedral to its previous state.

Construction

In 1160, because the church in Paris had become the "parish church of the kings of Europe", Bishop Maurice de Sully deemed the previous Parisian cathedral, St Stephen's (which had been founded in the 4th century) unworthy of its lofty role, and had it demolished shortly after he assumed the title of Bishop of Paris. As with most foundation myths, this account needs to be taken with a pinch of salt; archeological excavations in the 20th century suggested that the Merovingian Cathedral replaced by de Sully was itself a massive structure, with a five-aisled nave and a facade some 36m across. It seems likely therefore that the faults with the previous structure were exaggerated by the Bishop to help justify the rebuilding in a newer style. According to legend, de Sully had a vision of a glorious new cathedral for Paris, and sketched it on the ground outside the original church. To begin the construction, the bishop had several houses demolished and had a new road built in order to transport materials for the rest of the cathedral.

Façade, showing the Portal of the Virgin, Portal of the Last Judgment and Portal of St-Anne

Construction began in 1163, during the reign of Louis VII, and opinion differs as to whether Maurice de Sully or Pope Alexander III laid the foundation stone of the cathedral. However, both were at the ceremony in question. Bishop de Sully went on to devote most of his life and wealth to the cathedral's construction. Construction of the choir took from 1163 until around 1177 and the new High Altar was consecrated in 1182 (it was normal practice for the eastern end of a new church to be completed first, so that a temporary wall could be erected at the west of the choir, allowing the chapter to use it without interruption while the rest of the building slowly took shape). After Bishop Maurice de Sully's death in 1196, his successor, Eudes de Sully (no relation) oversaw the completion of the transepts and pressed ahead with the nave, which was nearing completion at the time of his own death in 1208. By this stage, the western facade had also been laid out, though it was not completed until around the mid 1240s.^[1]

The cathedral illuminated at night

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 most signifiant change in design came in the mid 13th century, when the transepts were remodelled in the latest Rayonnant style; in the late 1240s Jean de Chelles added a gabled portal to the North transept topped off by a spectacular rose window. Shortly afterwards (from 1258) Pierre de Montreuil executed a similar scheme on the South transept. Both these transept portals were richly embellished with sculpture; the south portal features scenes from the lives of St Stephen and of various local saints, while the north portal featured the infancy of Christ and the story of Theophilus in the tympanum, with a highly influential statue of the Virgin and Child in the trumeau.^[2]

The cathedral was effectively complete by around 1345.

Timeline of construction

• 1160 Maurice de Sully (named Bishop of Paris), orders the original cathedral to be demolished.
• 1163 Cornerstone laid for Notre Dame de Paris — construction begins.
• 1182 Apse and choir completed.
• 1196 Bishop Maurice de Sully dies.
• c.1200 Work begins on western façade.
• 1208 Bishop Eudes de Sully dies. Nave vaults nearing completion.
• 1225 Western façade completed.
• 1250 Western towers and north rose window completed.
• c.1245–1260s Transepts remodelled in the Rayonnant style by Jean de Chelles then Pierre de Montreuil
• 1250–1345 Remaining elements completed

The organ

Grandes Orgues

Though several organs were installed in the cathedral over time, the earliest ones were inadequate for the building. The first noteworthy organ was finished in the 18th century by the noted builder François-Henri Clicquot. Some of Clicquot's original pipework in the pedal division continues to sound from the organ today. The organ was almost completely rebuilt and expanded in the 19th century by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll.

The position of titular organist ("head" or "chief" organist) at Notre-Dame is considered as one of the most prestigious organist posts in France, along with the post of titular organist of Saint Sulpice in Paris, Cavaillé-Coll's largest instrument.

The organ has 7,800 pipes, with 900 classified as historical. The organ has 109 stops, five 56-key manuals and a 32-key pedalboard. In December 1992, work was completed on the organ that fully computerized the organ under 3 LANs (Local Area Networks).

View from the south

Organists

Among the best-known organists at Notre Dame was Louis Vierne, who held this position from 1900 to 1937. Under his tenure, the Cavaillé-Coll organ was modified in its tonal character, notably in 1902 and 1932.

Léonce de Saint-Martin held the post between 1932 and 1954.

Pierre Cochereau initiated further alterations (many of which were already planned by Louis Vierne), including the electrification of the action between 1959 and 1963. The original Cavaillé-Coll console, (which is now located in the Musée de Notre Dame de Paris, next to the cathedral), was replaced by a new console in Anglo-American style and the addition of further stops between 1965 and 1972, notably in the pedal division, the recomposition of the mixture stops, and finally the adding of three horizontal reed stops "en chamade".

After Cochereau's sudden death in 1984, four new titular organists were appointed at Notre Dame in 1985: Jean-Pierre Leguay, Olivier Latry, Yves Devernay (who died in 1990), and Philippe Lefebvre. This was reminiscent of the 18th-century practice of the cathedral having four titular organists, each one playing for three months of the year. Beginning in 1990, another restoration to the instrument was undertaken, which was completed in 1992.

Alterations, vandalism and restorations

Sculpture from the restoration program

In 1548, rioting Huguenots damaged features of the cathedral, considering them idolatrous. During the reigns of Louis XIV and Louis XV, the cathedral underwent major alterations as part of an ongoing attempt to modernize cathedrals throughout Europe. Tombs and stained glass windows were destroyed. The north and south rose windows were spared this fate, however.

Extreme angle

In 1793, during the French Revolution, the cathedral was rededicated to the Cult of Reason, and then to the Cult of the Supreme Being. During this time, many of the treasures of the cathedral were either destroyed or plundered. The statues of biblical kings of Judah (erroneously thought to be kings of France) were beheaded. Many of the heads were found during a 1977 excavation nearby and are on display at the Musée de Cluny. For a time, Lady Liberty ^{[disambiguation needed]} replaced the Virgin Mary on several altars. The cathedral's great bells managed to avoid being melted down. The cathedral came to be used as a warehouse for the storage of food.

A restoration program was initiated in 1845, overseen by architects Jean-Baptiste-Antoine Lassus and Eugène Viollet-le-Duc. The restoration lasted 25 years and included the construction of a flèche (a type of spire) as well as the addition of the chimeras on the Galerie des Chimères. Viollet le Duc always signed his work with a bat, the wing structure of which most resembles the Gothic vault (see Château de Roquetaillade).

In 1871, during the period of the Paris Commune, the cathedral was nearly set alight: some records suggest that the rebels even went so far as to set fire to a mound of chairs within the building. Whether that was so or not, the cathedral survived the Commune period essentially unscathed.

In 1939, during World War II, it was feared that German bombers could destroy the windows; as a result, on September 11, 1939, they were removed and then restored at the end of the war.

In 1991, a major program of maintenance and restoration was initiated, which was intended to last 10 years but is still in progress as of 2009, the cleaning and restoration of old sculptures being an exceedingly delicate matter.

In the late 1990s a candle was removed from the church without authorization, a crime with a possible penalty of up to 20 years.^{[citation needed]}

The bells

There are five bells at Notre Dame. The great bourdon bell, Emmanuel, is located in the South Tower, weighs just over 13 tons, and is tolled to mark the hours of the day and for various occasions and services. There are four additional bells on wheels in the North Tower, which are swing chimed. These bells are rung for various services and festivals. The bells were once rung manually, but are currently rung by electric motors. The bells also have external hammers for tune playing from a small clavier.

In the night of August 24, 1944, as the Île de la Cité was taken by an advance column of French and Allied armoured troops and elements of the Resistance, it was the tolling of the Emmanuel that announced to the city that its liberation was under way.

Significant events

• 1185 — Heraclius of Caesarea calls for the Third Crusade from the still-incomplete cathedral.
• 1239 — The Crown of Thorns is placed in the cathedral by St. Louis during the construction of Sainte-Chapelle.
• 1302 — Philip the Fair opens the first States-General.
• December 16, 1431 — Henry VI of England is crowned King of France.
• 1450 — Wolves of Paris trapped and are killed on the steps of the Cathedral.
• November 7, 1455 — Isabelle Romée, the mother of Joan of Arc, petitions a papal delegation to overturn her daughter's conviction for heresy.
• April 24, 1558 — Mary I of Scotland is married to the Dauphin François (later François II of France), son of Henry II of France.
• August 18, 1572 — Henry of Navarre (later Henry IV of France) marries Marguerite de Valois.
• September 10, 1573 — The Cathedral was the site of a vow made by Henri de Valois following the interregnum of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that he would both respect traditional liberties and the recently passed religious freedom law.^[3]
• December 2, 1804 — the coronation ceremony of Napoléon I and his wife Joséphine, with Pope Pius VII officiating.
• April 18, 1909 — Joan of Arc is beatified.
• May 16, 1920 — Joan of Arc is canonized.
• 1900 — Louis Vierne is appointed Organist of Notre-Dame de Paris after a heavy competition (with judges including Charles-Marie Widor) against the 500 most talented organ players of the era. On June 2, 1937 he dies at the cathedral organ (as was his life-long wish) as he is nearing the end of his final concert held at Notre Dame.
• August 26, 1944 — The Te Deum Mass takes place in the cathedral to celebrate the liberation of Paris. (According to some accounts the Mass was interrupted by sniper fire from both the internal and external galleries.)
• November 12, 1970 — The Requiem Mass of General Charles de Gaulle is held.
• June 6, 1971 - Philippe Petit surreptitiously strings a wire between the two towers of Notre Dame and tight-rope walks across it. Petit later performed a similar act between the twin towers of the World Trade Center.
• May 31, 1980 — After the Magnificat of this day, Pope John Paul II celebrates Mass on the parvis in front of the cathedral.
• January 1996—The Requiem Mass of François Mitterrand is held.
• August 10, 2007 — The Requiem Mass of Jean-Marie Cardinal Lustiger, archbishop emeritus of Paris, is held.

The cathedral is renowned for its Lent sermons founded by the famous Dominican Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire in the 1860s. In recent years, however, an increasing number have been given by leading public figures and state-employed academics.

Other

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One of the many roses in the flower garden behind Notre Dame.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris

• Maîtrise Notre Dame de Paris
• Musée de Notre Dame de Paris
• List of tallest buildings and structures in the Paris region
• Roman Catholic Marian churches

References

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (April 2009)

External links

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• Official site of Notre Dame de Paris
• Concerts at Notre-Dame de Paris and how to get a reserved places
• Radio Notre Dame, Mass in French from the cathedral on Sundays 12:30 North American EST
• Government tourism page on the cathedral
• Comprehensive Notre Dame Cathedral Paris
• Notre-Dame Cathedral
• Video tour of the most vivid examples of medieval Parisian stone carving - the grotesques of Notre Dame
• Panoramic views of the chevet of Notre Dame from the garden behind it
• Another panoramic view
• Stained glass Madonna with fleur-de-lis at Notre Dame de Paris

Coordinates: 48°51′11″N 2°20′59″E / 48.8530°N 2.3498°E / 48.8530; 2.3498

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