General information
tre Dame de Paris ('Our Lady of Paris' in French) is a Gothic 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 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.

Construction

n 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.

How to Get there?

A number of metro stations are stopping at Latin quarter.

 Line 4 Station Cité or Saint-Michel
 Line 1, 11 Station Hôtel de Ville
 Line 10 Station Maubert-Mutualité or Cluny – La Sorbonne
 Lines 7, 11 et 14 Station Châtelet

RER

 Line B Station Saint-Michel - Notre-Dame
 Line C Station Saint-Michel - Notre-Dame

 Lines n°21, 38, 47, 85, 96 Stop Cité - Palais de Justice
 Line n°47, Balabus Stop Cité - Parvis de Notre-Dame
 Lines n°24, 47 Stop Notre-Dame - Quai de Montebello
 Lines n°24, 47 Stop Petit Pont
 Lines n°24, 27, Balabus Stop Pont Saint-Michel – Quai des Orfèvres
 Lines n°24, 27, 96, Balabus Stop Saint-Michel
 Lines n°21, 27, 38, 85, 96 Stop Saint-michel – Saint-Germain