Paris – Notre Dame - 4me

Plate XXIX – Notre Dame…

Our Lady of Paris was ‘taking a bath’ when I was there.

On this first visit I did not get to see the famous west elevation of the cathedral, for as you will see she was hiding behind a modesty panel of net screening. Rather like a seductress with one bare shoulder, the top of her south tower (on which cleaning had been completed) was revealed to show the promise of what was soon to come, enticing the visitor to return one day. This tower houses the Bourdon Bell (Emmanuel) used to toll the hours of the day.

It is a sad fact of our modern environment that we are in danger of irreparably harming the legacy we have been left from the centuries before us. The sulphurous industrial acidity of the rain that eats away, and the carbon residue that blackens the stones of ages past could sadly mean that many historical monuments will be diminished or completely lost to future generations. And so, rather than bemoaning the attractions I have found hidden from me on many occasions in my travels around the world I welcome the sight of work-in-progress when I see such preservation efforts and cleaning being undertaken.  (I did see the results of this work on a later visit to the city. Notre Dame is magnificent).  

Built in the French Gothic style, construction was started in 1163 with the western portals and these towers started in around 1200. Numerous architects were involved in the design, which is evidenced from the differing styles at different levels of construction. Completion of the cathedral was in around 1345, and so this unsurpassed example of Gothic architecture spanned the two centuries when the style was popular. 

As with most historic buildings, damage has also been inflicted on Notre Dame through many of the conflicts in its history, most notably during the Revolution when biblical statues (believed by the Revolutionaries to represent the Kings of France) were, along with their modern Royal counterparts, beheaded. Twenty-five years of restoration work, for neither the first nor last time, wa s begun in 1845. The stone heads, recovered during excavations are now displayed in the Cluny Museum.

In June 1971 the French daredevil Philippe Petit focused the world’s attention on the towers of Notre Dame when he walked a tightrope he had secretly strung between them.