One of the finest examples of Gothic architecture, Notre dame, meaning “Our Lady of Paris”, a medieval marvel on the Island of the Seine River, is considered one of Paris’s widely recognized structures. The cathedral emerged from the ruins of two earlier churches, conceived from the idea of creating the largest religious building instead of reworking two different ruins. Several attributes of the cathedral impose heavy influence on Gothic through naturalism and an enormous abundance of sculptural decorations, unlike the Romanesque era earlier. Notre Dame marks its significance for the pipe organs it possesses, one of which is ancient and historic.
Progressively, the cathedral has been stripped gradually from its features and artworks but retained a few of its significant decors from Gothic, Baroque, and 19th-century sculptures and a few from 17th and 18th-century altarpieces. The cathedral is marked as one of the buildings in the world to incorporate a flying buttress, as it was much needed to support the walls around the nave of the choir due to the stress fractures that happened during the construction.
The Raise: 1163 -1345 | Notre Dame
Construction of the cathedral happened in four phases; it began in 1163, during the reign of Maurice, Bishop de Sully, standing high due to his episcopal administration, where he supervised the consecration of the Choir and High altar in 1177 and 1182, respectively, falling under the first phase. Later his successor Eudes de Sully oversaw the completion transepts and continued to move forward with the construction of the four sections of nave behind the choir (1180 -1192), four-part rib vaults rather than the six-part rib fault to be topped off, the cathedral attained its façade and form following the death of Bishop de Sully, around 1208 and mid-1240s, completing the second phase of the construction.
An important innovation of the 13th century was the flying buttress, where the support system of the roofs earlier was pressed outside and down the walls. Introducing buttresses made it easier to make the walls higher and thinner, imposing larger windows. Another significant transposition of the 13th century, transepts were remodelled in the latest Rayonnant Gothic architecture by Pierre de Monturelli and Jeanne de Chelles, where the transepts were topped by decorative windows introducing Rose windows. Transepts at North and South were richly ornamented with sculptures of Christendom in trumeau and tympanum, which is the most sculptural area of the cathedral.
The towers were 69 meters high and were considered the highest tower in Paris until the completion of the Eiffel tower in 1889. The towers were on the north and southern part of the cathedral, whereas the northern tower was slightly larger, as it can be viewed from the front part of the cathedral. A lead-roofed water reservoir between the two towers provides water for firefighting.
Dematerialization of the cathedral was possibly achieved with different structural innovations working together. Some of the Gothic innovations that led to this architectural marvel are; Flying buttresses, Rib vaults, Spires, and Tracery with Rose windows.
The Revolution: 1789 – 1801
The revolution of 1789, also unanimously known as the French revolution, emerged as a Challenging era in the timeline of Notre Dame, where the cathedral was taken over and rededicated to the Cult of Reason in 1793, and the Cult of Supreme was in 1794. Over time, the cathedral lost many of its treasures as they were either plundered or destroyed. The heads of the statues were beheaded, and sculptures on the façade were destroyed. Later, they were found during an excavation in 1977 and are on display at Musee de Cluny. Moreover, the cathedral was repurposed as a warehouse and for non-religious purposes.
After concordat 1801 happened, Napoleon Bonaparte took charge in France and restored Notre dame to its state. The coronation of napoleon happened in the cathedral, where it underwent quasi-Gothic modifications and adopted neoclassical features on the exterior.
The Return: 1831 – 2017
“ The Hunchback of Notre Dame” by Victor Hugo in 1831 was the turning point where the novel emerged as the awareness campaign for the cathedral’s decaying phase, restoring it to its original state. In 1844, King Louis Philippe imposed an order to restore the cathedral.
An extensive restoration took place in 1844 by King Louis Philippe, which lasted for the next two decades. Jean-Baptise Lassus and Eugenie Viollet –de-Luca were appointed as the chief architects; decorations and engraving were added to propose a new concept to the original spirit of the cathedral. One of them is; a more ornate spire than the original 13th-century spire, which was torn down during the French revolution in 1786. Later, during World War II, also known as the Liberation of Paris, the cathedral suffered severe damage from stray bullets, which majorly affected the medieval glass replaced by modern abstract glass.
A decade-long renovation program started in 1991, marking the 800th anniversary of the cathedral as the ancient gargoyles, turrets, and sculptures had fallen off, and the masonry in the exterior has been deteriorated due to the pollution of the 19th century.
The Fire: 2019 | Notre Dame
As the world watched one the most celebrated Gothic jewel in Europe was shattered by fire on 15th April 2019. Speculations suggest that the reason was linked to on-going renovations which had been underway since 2017. The fire destroyed the spire and roof, but the main structure remained intact. The fire was not properly manned where; it spread over the roof, and the spire collapsed an hour after the fire started.
“We will rebuild it, all together “
Says French president Emmanuel Macron who affirmed to rebuild the cathedral ahead of the Paris Olympics 2024,which is about to begin by July 26th ,2024. But professionals suggested that it would take 5 long years to accomplish the architectural marvel. But it is a hard-headed goal!
References:
- Breeden, Aurelien (15 April 2019). “Part of Notre-Dame Spire Collapses as Paris Cathedral Catches Fire”. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 15 April 2019. Retrieved 15 April 2019
- “In pictures: Notre-Dame Cathedral rebuild hits milestone as melted scaffolding cleared”. France 24. 26 November 2020. Retrieved 19 September 2021
- Notre-dame-de-Paris” 29 June 2021 . Available at: Design buildings .. <https:// https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Notre-Dame_de_Paris#Introduction> ISSN 0719-88849 [Accessed 18 Sep 2022]
