From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The origin of all road distances from Paris
Notre Dame
is a very old
cathedral
in
Paris
,
France
. It is one of France's most famous landmarks and many people visit it each year. The cathedral is on a small
island
on the
River Seine
. It is the cathedral of the
Catholic
Archdiocese
of Paris, one of 23 archdioceses in France. The cathedral was built during two centuries. It is a very good example of
Gothic Architecture
in France. At the time it was finished, the cathedral was the biggest such building in
Western Europe
. Between 1844 and 1864, the building was renovated under the direction of
Eugene Viollet-le-Duc
, who incorporated elements into the design that the
medieval
building had not possessed before. The two
rose windows
which ornate the transept are among the biggest in Europe: each has a diameter of 13m.
The
bronze
plate in the
parvis
before the cathedral is the origin of all road distances in France calculated from Paris. The national geographic institute in France uses the building as a
benchmark
. The coordinates and
altitude
for this point are known precisely.
Victor Hugo
wrote a famous story called 'Notre-Dame de Paris'. The story takes place around the cathedral. The English title is '
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
', and it has also been made into movies.
Tradition has it that Notre-Dame’s first stone was laid in 1163 in the presence of
Pope Alexander III
.
On May 21, 2013 French historian
Dominique Venner
committed suicide at Notre Dame de Paris because of his beliefs for gay rights. About 1,500 people were evacuated from the cathedral.
On 15 April 2019, smoke and flames were sighted and the Cathedral was declared
to be on fire
.
[4]
The fire burnt for over half a day and caused massive damage. Most works of art in the cathedral could be saved. The French government announced that the damage would be repaired and the cathedral would be rebuilt.
