PARIS, the capital of elegance and art is renowned for its central landmarks and points of identification viz. the Arc de Triomphe, The Avenue des Champs-Élysées, Sacré-Cœur, Palais Garnier (Opéra de Paris), The Louvre, Mona Lisa, Cathédrale of Notre-Dame, the houseboat on the Seine – all of which has been absorbed into the tradition of Paris. Then there is the Eiffel Tower which seemed to sway in the wind. One could see the panorama from its top as it pointed upward into space as if seeking to escape from the earth.

During the three hundred years between 1050 and 1350, 80 cathedrals, 500 large churches and hundreds of small parish churches were built in France which reflected the wealth and variety of the country’s history and architecture. Following the construction of the abbey of Saint Denis (now Basilique cathédrale de Saint-Denis) north of Paris on the grave of Saint Denis in 1144, there was strong plea for a cathedral much longer and upward looking than Saint-Étienne’s in the Île de la Cité.

The new cathedral had to be worthy of the great demographic expansion and economic dynamism of Paris. With the low hills region such as Butte Saint-Jacques, nearby Bagneux, Arcueil, and Montrouge dispersed with great beds of granite and limestone, there was hardly any shortage for building materials. And so, without totally destroying the existing two churches, Maurice de Sully (elected Bishop of Paris on October 12, 1160 – died in 1196) commenced to build a new edifice on the same site. It is generally held that Pope Alexander III laid its foundation stone in 1163 and the construction was done by professional workers organized in accordance with the traditions and rules of the guilds and the powerful Chapter of Notre-Dame.  

Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris is the heart of Paris. It is an historical, as well as an ecclesiastical and architectural landmark. It was on the apocalyptic west façade of the Cathédrale Notre-Dame, on the pavement of the great plaza called Parvis de Notre-Dame – Place Jean-Paul II, that the official centre of Paris is landmarked with a bronze star on an embedded plaque – proclaiming the central place conferred on Notre-Dame in the country’s life. This bronze star (placed by André Jules Michelin) is the point-zero (Point-Zéro des routes de France) for measuring distances from Paris. The local cue is that: a) if you stand on this bronze plate, you will return to Paris; b) if you stand on it with your lover and share a kiss, your love will last forever.

Five years after the devastating fire in April 2019, presently, the extensive restoration/rebuilding work of the Cathédrale as well as the subsidiary work have almost been completed. The French has slain the ghost of that fire. Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris is officially scheduled to reopen partially to the public on December 08, 2024 (although some of the work will continue beyond this date until Sunday, June 08, 2025 coinciding with the Feast of Pentecost). Church bells will be ringing out in Paris on the official inauguration on December 07, 2024 (not open to the public) and on December 08, 2024. On both days, grand liturgical ceremonies at the cathedral, as well as spectacle befitting this glittering occasion, is expected (a).

It is the civilization we betray when we do not care for our great monuments of the past. By loving these monuments, relating the stories behind their construction, understanding the masters who build them, we comprehend the high-values reached by civilization. One of the cathedral’s ablest restorers, Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, rightly said that, if the pillars of Notre-Dame could speak, they could recount the annals of France from the days of Philip Augustus (Philip II of France, 1165-1223) to our own. It is with continuous love and care, Notre-Dame de Paris will stand perpetually in its rightful grace and grandeur. Vive la France. Jo

Note:

1. Subject to change;
2. Refer to my posts of December 2016 for a fuller version on Notre-Dame de Paris

(©Joseph Sébastine/Manningtree Archive)