Cathedral Notre Dame De Paris

The side walls of the cathedral

The great flying buttresses of Notre-Dame de Paris, with a range up to 15 meters, are constructed of a single fly. The construction of such buttresses are very rare in Gothic architecture. They require indeed a particularly massive abutment. They are found around the nave, as around the chorus. Dictionary of French architecture from the eleventh ^to the sixteenth ^century by Eugne Viollet-le-Duc , 1856.

The construction of the nave began in 1182, after the consecration of the choir. Some even think that the work began as soon as 1175, before the consecration . Work stopped after the fourth span the unfinished nave while leaving it began building the facade in 1208. The construction of the nave was taken in 1218 to the buttressed facade.

In late 1220, the fourth architect of Notre Dame began to totally change the original plan at the top of the building while it was still under construction. The darkness of Notre Dame, considered too high at the start of construction, had become unbearable, especially when compared with the clarity in which bathed the newest sanctuaries still under construction. An upgrade becomes essential if we wanted the cathedral remains the reference and should not be regarded as archaic. We then proceeded to significant changes. The architect then undertook the extension of the berries down by deleting former third level, that of roses from the old building overlooking the roofs of the galleries. Were suppressed when the roof terrace for the benefit of these forums and hats made of large slabs.

Then arose the problem of drainage of rain that might stagnate following the abolition of the sloping roof of the stands. The architect had thus introduce a new element in the architecture, we are still heirs collect rainwater from the roof as a system of gutters , and remove step by step through vertical ducts towards an ending in many gargoyles for the project off the building . This was a totally new system for managing rainwater on top of buildings. As a corollary a range of other changes had to be carried out at the top level of the building (upper parts of the main vessel): recovery of the roof and framing, raising the gutter walls , building gutters. Especially were replaced buttresses above double flight by large buttresses to peal launched over the grandstands.

The great buttresses of the nave

South side of the cathedral: view of the great buttresses of the nave and the drainage system of the large roof: standpipes, chaperones buttresses tops of the abutments and finally long gargoyles.

These large buttresses are remarkable and testimony to the genius of the architect of the time. They are one long flight, launched over the side and head supports the top of the gutter walls of the cathedral. These heads are based on the right of vertical ducts to evacuate water from the gutters of the roof of the nave. The upper flying buttresses is dug a channel which crosses the top of the abutment and ends with a long gargoyle. These buttresses were not primarily intended buttressed the edifice, but to solve the problem of disposal of rainwater, become very important after the conversion of the roof of the stands on the terrace. This explains the relative weakness of these arcs. Their construction is certainly a feat, which is manifested by their great length, but also by their thinness. Their role is weak in supporting the arch of the main vessel, the architect was allowed to be bold.

It should be emphasized that the significance of these buttresses is quite exceptional in the Gothic architecture of the Middle Ages. Indeed in the buildings of the time, double-lined aisles or double aisles, the abutments of the huge buttresses had to take considerable ground outside the churches. But the ground was something to save the cities of the Middle Ages, whose surface was made by inextensible walls which enclosed the cities. The buttresses of the cathedral of Paris, crossing a single flight of double aisles of the nave as the double ambulatory of the choir is a unique example. Ordinarily, in this case, the flying buttresses are two flights, that is to say, they are separated by a fulcrum through which, by dividing the thrust, destroyed part of its effect and thus allows reduce the thickness of the outer buttresses or abutments. Thus were built the flying buttresses of the cathedral Notre-Dame de Chartres , those of the Cathedral Saint-Etienne de Bourges , and those of the choir of Amiens , the latter three buildings are also equipped with either double aisles or a double ambulatory .

The south facade and the portal of Saint-Etienne

View of the south facade, rose window and its remarkable gable surmounting.

Started by Jean de Chelles in 1257 , the portal of Saint-Etienne was completed by Pierre Montereau. It is located at the south arm of the transept. The tympanum of the portal of Saint-Etienne is occupied by the bas-reliefs that tell the life of the first martyr Christian, St. Stephen , by the acts of the apostles. Divided into three horizontal registers bunk, the decor of the eardrum from bottom to top and from left to right: St. Stephen preaching Christianity and St. Stephen led before the judge in the lower register, the stoning of St. Stephen and his entombment in middle register, and Christ blessing surrounded by two angels in the upper register. The pier is occupied by a large statue of St. Stephen, the work of Geoffrey Dechaume-executed in the nineteenth ^century.

The triple arch of the Soffit of the door is carved with no less than twenty-one martyrs, whom the angels offer crowns. Here we find St. Denis headless, St. Vincent , St. Eustatius , St. Maurice , St. Lawrence with his gridiron, Saint Clement , Saint George , and others whose identity could not be determined clearly.

On either side of the gate three statues of apostles also modern, to replace those smashed by the vandals of the Revolution.

Above the gate is a beautiful gable topped by the beautiful openwork rose south of the cathedral offered by St. Louis. Like her sister from the north, the south rose window, saw his 13.1-meter diameter, and if we add the skeleton underlying the total height of the canopy reaches almost 19 meters.

This rose was picked by Viollet-le-Duc in the ^nineteenth century, which would hamper the impression of rotation of the escutcheon. The reason for this change seems to be that the canopy had suffered greatly over the centuries and especially the burning of the archdiocese fired by insurgents in 1830. The architect-restorer found a more significant collapse of the masonry, and must therefore take this entire facade. He swung the rosette of 15 degrees at one end to give it a strong vertical axis for the final consolidation and prevent further collapse. The glass master Alfred Gerente restored at this time the windows of the ^thirteenth century and reconstructed in the spirit of medieval medallions missing.

On the top floor of the facade, a remarkable pinion rises above the rosette. This is one of the finest examples of gables built at that time ( 1257 ). He himself is pierced with a perforated pink, illuminating the height of the transept. On the archivolt the rosette rests an entablature on a railing, behind which runs a gallery. This allows the transition from the upper galleries of the cathedral is to those of the west galleries that line the roof. The pinion itself rises from this is a bit down compared to the rose, and its thickness is 70 centimeters. It is lightened by the pink light and the height of the spandrels. Two major pyramidions flank forming the upper parts of the foothills that contrebutent escutcheon. Three statues decorate the top and two bottom corners of the gable. This summit represents Christ appearing to St. Martin in a dream, covered half the coat given by him to the poor of the legend. The other two statues to the left and right of the base of the gable, are St. Martin and St. Etienne. The whole gives an impression of harmony. The pink of the roof is perfectly in proportion with the large rose window of the transept. According to Viollet-le-Duc, the great beauty of this building was not surpassed elsewhere in the Gothic architecture .

The north side of the cloister and portal

The portal of the Cloister is located at the north arm of the transept , and was built around 1250 by architect Jean de Chelles . The construction of the north facade is indeed somewhat earlier than the south facade.

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  Northern facade of the cathedral tympanum of the portal of the Cloister

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  Statue of the Virgin, the pier of the gate of the Cloister

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  The facade of the north transept to the north rose window

Almost always devoid of sunshine, and situated on a busy street, the north facade is less popular with tourists and visitors that his younger sister south. A little less ornate, yet it is almost as beautiful and his portal has the enormous advantage of being taken for quick access to the heart of the sanctuary. It is divided into three stages, slightly against each other. The lower level is the portal to overcome his great waterway. The average consists of a huge canopy including the impressive rose , morning of the ^thirteenth century, overcoming a skylight. Finally the upper floor is the gable end of the triangular masking attic north transept.

The north face of the north tower and its three impressive buttresses. The middle one, the weakest of the three, actually supports a spiral staircase which is lit by a few loopholes. The only major opening in this wall is a severe long bay perpetually plunged in darkness and therefore may seem somewhat disturbing.

At the pier of the gate, a statue of the Virgin without children. This statue has escaped destruction in 1793, but she carried the baby Jesus was broken. They say it is the wife of St. Louis , Marguerite de Provence , which have been the model for the sculptor.

The six piers destroyed statues of the revolution have not been reconstructed in the ^nineteenth century when the great restoration led by Eugene Viollet-le-Duc.

The lower part of the eardrum , the lintel , depicts scenes from the childhood of Christ. These sculptures are among the finest sculptural works on this theme. They show the role of Mary as Jesus' childhood. The four scenes depicted are the birth of Jesus in a humble manger, offering at the temple of Jerusalem after the birth of Jesus, persecution of children by King Herod and the flight into Egypt of Joseph and Mary to protect the child.

The upper part of tympanum presents the popular Miracle of Theophilus is one of the "Miracles of the Virgin" which the late Middle Ages was fond. This is a story of "Faustian" of the Middle Ages . Theophilus, clerk of the bishop of Adana in Asia Minor, was jealous of him. To supplant his bishop, he sold his soul to the devil. The covenant is recorded on a scroll that he carries. With the help of the devil, Theophilus manages to humiliate his bishop. But he repents and, not knowing how to break the deadlock when he started, he implores the Virgin. It threatens the devil and thus forces him to return the cursed parchment.

Large buttresses with their massive abutments and their long gargoyles at the north side of the nave

As for the facade of the south transept, we find the same architectural elements at the front of the north transept: a beautiful gable surmounts the gate , and a gallery of stained glass or skylight fills the space between the floor of the gate and that of the rosette. This last great masterpiece of Gothic church architecture, is over 13 meters in diameter, as the south rose window.

The whole is surmounted by a gable richly decorated and roughly similar, although not identical, to the south. It is pierced with a pink illuminating the attic of the transept north, and three oculi. At its core, each side stands a great pinnacle in the form of an elegant spire, surmounting each one of two powerful buttresses flanking the front.

The northern facade of Notre Dame, largely deprived of sunlight and do not benefit from the proximity of the river, not as popular as the south facade often bathed in light. Forming the southern edge of the Rue du Cloitre Notre Dame, though she earns to be admired. It is a less known face of Notre Dame found there. The massive buttresses with many gargoyles grinning and leaning on massive abutments , clearly show that the cathedral is also a heavy and impressive stone construction. It is at the north face of the north tower (16 meters wide at the base) that this aspect becomes most apparent. The lower part of the high tower over 30 meters, with its three massive buttresses, almost without decorations or ornaments, with its blocks of stone carved with precision and constantly in the shadow for centuries ensures that the building becomes even somewhat overwhelming.

The Red Door

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Red Gate was restored in 2008

The project manager Pierre de Montreuil built this small door, without pier , known for obvious reasons "the Red Gate" (red color of its leaves ), circa 1270. Louis IX , better known as St. Louis, 'was commissioned. This door was reserved for the canons of the chapter and was intended to improve the movement of the latter between Notre Dame and the "Pen Cannonial" district of the Ile de la Cit reserved for houses of canons and north-eastern Cathedral between the river and the latter.

Bas-relief of a chapel choir: representing the miracle of Theophilus.

The door opens in the red near the cathedral choir, a north side chapels of the choir.

St. Louis is represented on the tympanum to the left of the Virgin , crowned by an angel. The wife of St. Louis, Marguerite de Provence , to the right of Christ. The arches surrounding the eardrum can see scenes from the life of St. Marcellus , bishop of Paris.

The bas-reliefs of the choir chapels

To the left of the red door at the outside wall of the side chapels of the choir are seven bas-reliefs of the fourteenth ^century - when the chapels were built - five of which relate to the Virgin's death, burial, Resurrection, the Assumption and Coronation. The last two are a Last Judgement with Mary interceding with Christ, and a representation of the miracle of Theophilus.

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  Bas-relief of the chapels of the choir: The Death of Mary

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  Bas-relief of the chapels of the choir: the Burial of the Virgin

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  Bas-relief of the chapels of the choir: the Assumption of the Virgin

The apse of the cathedral

View of the apse of the cathedral and its three levels of windows. The windows of the chapels as those forums are topped by a gable. This applies even to the bottom of the abutments of the great flying buttresses.

The head consists of a half circle in the most east of the cathedral. It corresponds to the apse of the interior of the building, surrounded by the roundabout ambulatory and apsidal chapels. The sanctuary is the oldest part of the sanctuary. It was built during the first phase of construction, from 1163 to 1180. A large series of admirable buttresses with elegant pinnacles maintains its rounded upper wall.

It is not known if the flying buttresses supported from the outset the bedside and the choir. The fact is that none is currently no trace. In the nineteenth ^century, Viollet-le-Duc did not make mention either, and no source earlier does not help us ^{The hinges of the doors, masterpieces of} metalwork

The hinges of the gate north of the portal of Judgement (XIX ^century)

Details of the fittings of a gate leaf of the Virgin

A hinge is a piece of flat iron bent in a circle at one end so as to form an eye for receiving the nipple of a hinge, and attached on the surface of a door, is designed to suspend and to move, while holding steady. The hinges are bolted and nailed to the doors of the gates .

The doors of Notre-Dame de Paris are decorated with wrought iron hinges of exceptional beauty. The door leaves Anne for example, are filled with admirable hinges, which almost entirely cover and are small masterpieces of metalwork. They form thin arabesques and ample light, drawings of flowers and foliage, and even animal forms. They are witnesses to the forefront of the consummate art of metalwork in the ^twelfth and ^thirteenth centuries. Moreover, they stand beautifully on the coating which was applied to the leaves. Any time the Parisians were fascinated by these little wonders wrought iron. And soon the legends were formed. One of them said they were so beautiful that it was not believable that they were executed by a simple blacksmith. It would have sold his soul to the devil in exchange for the incomparable talent of iron into leaves and twigs, which earned the nickname of the blacksmith Biscornette. According to another legend, the hinges of the gates have been forged by the devil himself in the forges of hell ^, .

The hinges of both doors (north and south) of the transept, which dated from the Middle Ages were replaced in the eighteenth ^century by the Gothic style hinges as we imagined at the time. Judgement about the portal, following the intervention Soufflot late eighteenth ^century, the doors were replaced by two wooden doors adapted to new data dimensions to the door at that time, and carved two life-size effigies of Christ and the Virgin. Viollet-le-Duc filed doors Soufflot and reconstructed the gate as it was in the Middle Ages, and the old hinges therefore dating the nineteenth ^century.

The tapes of these hinges have a width of 16 to 18 centimeters, a thickness of about 2 centimeters. They are composed of several bands together and welded at intervals by means of curtain (see Figure 2 below). These not only add great strength to all, but can cover the welds bent legs.

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  Figure 1 - The artist blacksmith then began forging separately each of twigs, to bring them afterwards, drawing Emouard, in Dictionary of French architecture from the eleventh ^to the sixteenth ^century by Eugne Viollet- le-Duc , 1856.

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  Figure 2 - The five main parts of the lower door hinge Sainte-Anne, drawing Pegard, in Dictionary of French architecture from the eleventh ^to the sixteenth ^century by Eugne Viollet-le-Duc , 1856.

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  Figure 3 - Door Hinge Sainte-Anne - An example of the extreme complexity of the meeting of small branches, drawing by E. Guillaumot, in Dictionary of French architecture from the eleventh ^to the sixteenth ^century by Eugne Viollet -le-Duc , 1856.

Roof

In his will, Maurice de Sully left the sum of five thousand pence for the roof of the cathedral, which was covered only temporary materials until his death in 1196. The roof is covered with tiles of 1326 lead by 5 millimeters thick. Each has ten feet of the king- long by three wide (1 foot king-= 32.484 cm and a fathom = 6 feet of the King). The total weight is estimated at 210,000 kg, or 210 tons .

Framing

Under the roof is the structure built entirely of wood in oak , not chestnut as is often thought. The current structure dates from the time of construction of the cathedral in the early thirteenth ^century (it is generally accepted 1220), Notre Dame who was lucky not to know of a major fire since. She has nearly eight centuries old. It's called colloquially the "Forest of Notre Dame." Its dimensions are 120 meters long, 13 meters wide in the nave, 40 feet in length in the transept and 10 meters high. In total, the wood frame was made of oak 1300, which represents more than 21 hectares of forest .

With the gothic architecture , the construction of warheads required for steep roofs. Those of Notre-Dame de Paris is 55 . At the time of building the structure, large trunks were scarce given the clearing of the time. One ^{The medieval gargoyles and chimeras of Viollet-le-Duc}

Often confused chimeras and gargoyles.

Gargoyles

The gargoyles of Notre Dame are famous. They were put in place at the end of the gutters to drain rainwater from the roof and only what the ends of drainage pipes. Because they protrude into the vacuum, the masses of water sometimes impressive showers are rejected far walls of the cathedral and not shatter. They often take the form of fantastic animals and even frightening. They date from the Middle Ages. Some pretty gargoyles are particularly at large buttresses of the choir. The system of drainage from the roof of the apse ends with a pipe on the top of the flying buttresses and gargoyles by long. To get an idea of their use, you must go see them work a day of heavy rain in Paris.

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  This series of long gargoyles of the south wall of the nave roof drains the side chapels.

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  Three beautiful gargoyles of the southwest corner of the cathedral. Located in the upper right corner of the colonnade of the main facade, they are just below the Gallery of Dreams

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  Gargoyles atop a buttress of the chancel, north side.

Chimera

The chimeras by cons are statues and fantastic and often grotesque evil. They have a decorative effect. They are found at the top of the building atop the facade, at the balustrade crowning the upper gallery which connects the two towers and that extends to all four sides thereof, the Hall of chimeras . All corners of the railing are a support or perch demons, monsters and fantastic birds. These elements did not exist in Middle Age and additions are incorporated by the architect Eugene Viollet-le-Duc.

These monumental statues, but most certainly frightening grotesque, were intended to recreate the fantastic atmosphere in which bathed the Middle Ages. These works were designed by Viollet-le-Duc himself who drew, then the statues were made by members of a team of 15 outstanding sculptors of the nineteenth ^century gathered around Geoffroy-Dechaume.

This was a very audacious bet the architect. There is no denying that this was a great success. The architect-restorer no longer merely to restore the sculptures destroyed, but by showing where he was also a brilliant designer, a gifted genius inventive personnel. Opponents of the work of Viollet-le-Duc denouncing a kind of so-cons, the answer to all that time we added decorations and ornaments with old buildings, and modern stained glass windows that adorn many of sanctuaries being Gothic, y including Notre-Dame de Paris, are proof that this movement continues beautification. Notre Dame is not a monument frozen in the past, nor a museum but a living cathedral.

Comfortably at the top of the cathedral these monstrous creatures seem to contemplate the big city and enjoy all the wickedness they discover there. Among them, the most famous is probably the Vampire , evil spirit that resembles the nocturnal vampire, already feared the Romans, which was popularized by the writer Charles Meryon who published a famous engraving in 1850.

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  A chimera of Notre Dame in Paris seems to revel in the spectacle of capital

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  The Vampire is one of the most famous chimeras of Notre-Dame

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  The same Stryge and Henri Le Secq photographed by Charles Negro in 1853

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  Other chimeras of Notre-Dame de Paris

History of the gargoyles of Notre Dame

Figure 1 - gargoyle primitive, short and robust as can be seen around 1225, etching, in the Dictionary of French architecture from the eleventh ^to the sixteenth ^century by Eugne Viollet-le-Duc , 1856.

Figure 2 - gargoyle fine and a slender buttresses of the nave. Under the base of the gargoyle one notices a very beautiful raven humorously carved in the Dictionary of French architecture from the eleventh ^to the sixteenth ^century by Eugne Viollet-le-Duc , 1856.

At the start of construction of the Cathedral (XII ^century), the water flowed directly roofs on public roads through the projection given to the ledges. Upon completion of the choir in 1190 , there were no gutters or gargoyles. Was built soon gutters on the roof of the building, but towards 1210 again, the waters flowed on the gutters projecting eaves , through channels located at regular intervals. The gargoyles that appear around 1220, on parts of the Cathedral of Laon. These gargoyles were large, few, consisting of two parts, forming the lower channel, the other covering.

Already, however, the gargoyles in the form of fantastic animals, heavily pruned. Soon the architects of the thirteenth ^century understood that there were great advantages to divide the water flows, thereby increasing the number of gargoyles. This, in effect, avoided the long slopes in the gutters each fall and reduced to a trickle more water can not harm the integrity of the buildings below. We therefore multiplied the gargoyles and multiplying, we could cut them thinner, lighter, more slender, longer and making projections into the void to reject the water below. Soon the sculptors made of these stones projecting a pattern of decoration of buildings.

On the upper cornices of Notre Dame, rebuilt around 1225, one sees then, gargoyles, still short, robust, but already very cleverly cut (see Figure 1).

The spire of Notre Dame seen from the southeast. It rises to 96 meters.

Those placed at the end of the gutters of the flying buttresses of the nave , which are roughly the same time, already longer and more slender, and supported by crows , which helped them a large protrusion in front of the outer face of the abutments of the flying buttresses (see Figure 2). The gargoyles were systematically put on high structures of Notre Dame around 1240.

Some limestone basin of the Seine (the alberese) lend themselves perfectly to the sculpture of those long pieces of stone projecting from the buildings. It was indeed a material tough enough and strong enough to deal with all causes of destruction likely to cause their ruin. So is it in Paris or in other countries where there are hard limestone , which can currently still admire the most beautiful examples of gargoyles. Besides the sculpture school in Paris, the Middle Ages were those of neighboring provinces with dominance, especially as regards the statuary, which is understandable, the city focusing on both the ideal raw material and large projects and therefore experienced craftsmen, who propagated their expertise, particularly through their apprentices.

Arrow

The base of the spire of Notre Dame is surrounded by four groups of statues of three apostles everyone works of sculptor Geoffrey-Dechaume. This latter group, north-east consists of Luke, his ox symbolic preceded and followed by two other apostles.

The first boom was built on top of the transept in the thirteenth ^century, probably between 1220 and 1230. Arrows also suffer high wind that bends and weakens their structures. The arrow is deformed slowly, distorting the joists, to total collapse. Arrow home was dismantled in 1786 after more than five centuries old. The cathedral was left without an arrow directed to the restoration by Viollet-le-Duc and carried out by Workshops Monduit the mid-nineteenth ^century. It is made of oak covered with lead and weighs 750 tons.

This arrow is guarded by statues, made of wrought copper, the 12 apostles (arranged in four rows - one to each cardinal point - three Apostles, they are placed one above the other). Each group of apostles is preceded by an animal symbolizing one of the four evangelists. The ox for Luke, the lion to Mark, John and the eagle man (or angel) to Mathieu.

St. Thomas represented in the guise of Eugene Viollet-le-Duc

These statues are the work of Geoffrey-Dechaume, and are a remarkable collection in full harmony with the spirit of the thirteenth ^century. The apostles were all turned to Paris, except one of them, St. Thomas the patron of architects, which turns to the arrow. This looks suspiciously like Viollet-le-Duc , the architect of the arrow as he turned to gaze one last time his work . This is a joke historic architect-restorer.

Finally, we must know that the rooster at the top of the arrow contains three relics: a small piece of the Holy Crown of Thorns, a relic of St Denis and one from St. Genevieve. These relics were placed there in 1935, at the time of Bishop Verdier. The rooster is a kind of "spiritual lightning rod" protecting the faithful who work and practice under the law of God, as part of the cathedral.

Bells

Emmanuel, the great bell of Notre-Dame is located in the south tower

From the late twelfth ^century, the building of the cathedral is far from over, yet it is already mentioned a ringing of bells before the offices. Over the centuries, this ring is expanding, eight bells in the north tower, two drones into the South Tower (Jacqueline Mary) and seven bells in the arrow. All these bells formed a true soundscape in the Paris sky until the eighteenth ^century. Unfortunately, the Revolution did not forget the bells of Notre Dame de Paris, which were split and grouped between 1791 and 1792. The great bell whom Franois Villon in his Grand Testament, dated 1461, was given to the cathedral in 1400 by Jean de Montaigu, brother of the Bishop of Paris, who was named Jacqueline, named after his wife Jacqueline La Grange. Jacqueline is consolidated for the first time in 1680 and again in 1682 by Florentine Le Guay. The sponsor of the bell was King Louis XIV and the godmother, his wife Maria Theresa of Austria. That's why we named him Emmanuel-Louise-Therese. As evidenced by its inclusion , a final revision of the bell was completed in 1685 by master smelters Chapel, Gillot and Moreau. And while Jacqueline weighed only fifteen thousand pounds (7,500 kilograms), Emmanuel weighs nearly double, about 13 tons , the flying alone weighs 500 kg. Ringing in F sharp (F # 2), this bell is considered by experts as one of the most beautiful in Europe and is rung only on rare occasions (Christmas, Easter, Pentecost or to the Pope's death ...). Legend has it that the purity of sound that results when the cast, women threw themselves into the metal melting their gold jewelry.

In 1792 , the second drone, called Mary and sank in 1472 was destroyed with the bells of the boom and those of the north tower.

In the latter stood since 1856 four bells, the Benjamins. They ring several times a day for hours, three times for the Angelus (8 hours, noon to 19 pm), and the offices of the week. They are:

• Anglique Franoise 1 765 kg (C sharp)
• Antoinette Charlotte 1 158 kg (D #)
• Jeanne Hyacintha 813 kg (F)
• Denise David 670 kg (F sharp)

Inside the cathedral

The nave

Nave to west to east.

The nave consists of a sort of "narthex" or narthex two bays underneath and between the towers, followed by eight other spans. The nave of a width of 12 meters between the axes of the columns is bordered by two aisles vaulted quadripartite both north and south, a total of five ships for only three gates, which is exceptional. Two rows of seven side chapels, built between the buttresses of the vessel open, the fourth to the tenth bay, on the external side.

The elevation has three levels. The first consists of large arches opening on the inner side. The second is a forum slatted opening onto the nave bays consisting of three arches, which rest on slender columns. Above these arches, tracery of these bays are full. The stands are filled with small roses. Finally the third level is that high windows that have two lancets surmounted by an oculus.

The 14 side chapels are lighted by four lancet windows, grouped in twos and topped three cusped oculi.

On the one hand, the forum is deep and the windows of the clerestory very dark, and the other windows of the side chapels being remote from the central nave, the lighting of the nave is mainly based on high windows and is therefore quite low.

The nave has a number of irregularities. The first span is narrower than the others, it follows that the forum only two arches while the upper window is a single bay. Moreover it has no side chapel. The last bay has a four-level rise due to Viollet-le-Duc: the high window is shorter, and the space thus formed between window and high level forums, we introduced an oculus toothed wheel-like. Such a structure is similar to that of the transept neighbor.

View the first three columns along the nave to the south (right). The third (right in photo) is perfectly cylindrical, the second (center) has an engaged column, the first (left) has four and thus responds to the model of the cathedral of Chartres.

Other irregularities: the columns. Between the massive piers of the crossing and the towering pillars that support the internal angle of the two towers, the central nave is flanked by two groups of seven columns. The original plan provided for cylindrical columns quite similar to those of the choir. This is what was done in the late twelfth ^century to the five pairs of columns Oriental (closest to the transept). Cons by two pairs of columns western high around 1220 deviate from this pattern. The architect of the time abandoned the cylindrical column, a fundamental characteristic of Notre Dame, Chartres get closer to the model (related to the cathedral of Chartres ). He avoided, however, that this difference does not seem too brutal. Thus, he added the second one baluster columns bound to transition with the first columns which have four.

The other side of the frontage is occupied by an organ loft above the rose window and hides the lower part. It is dedicated to the Virgin, surrounded by the prophets, vices and virtues, works for months and zodiac signs. This rose has been largely rebuilt by Viollet-le-Duc in the ^nineteenth century.

In 1965, the tall windows of the nave and roses forums have finally been filled with stained glass windows and replacing the dull gray lenses implanted by the canons in the eighteenth ^century. Non-figurative, they are the work of Jacques Le Chevallier, who used the products and colors of the Middle Ages. The set is predominantly red and blue.

The Mays of Goldsmiths

The stoning of St. Stephen , the work of Charles Le Brun decorated the first chapel right of the nave. This is the May of 1651.

Called Mays / Sup> in Notre Dame series of 76 paintings donated to the cathedral by the Brotherhood of Goldsmiths, almost every year as of May 1 (hence the name), in homage to the Virgin Mary, and that from 1630 to 1707.

The goldsmiths had long their own chapel within the sanctuary. Was established in 1449 by the Brotherhood of Goldsmiths of Paris tradition of Offering of May at Notre Dame de Paris. This tradition took different forms over time. In the fifteenth ^century, it was a tree decorated with ribbons that you stood before the altar as a sign of Marian devotion. Then the tradition evolved into a gift of a kind of tabernacle which hung poems. From 1533, we also hung small paintings related to the life of the Virgin. They are called small mays. Finally in 1630, according to the chapter , small mays were replaced by large mays. They were large paintings of plus or minus 3.5 to 2.5 meters in size.

These were sponsored Mays from famous painters. The painters had to submit their sketches to the canons of the cathedral. After the founding of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in 1648, the artists chosen were all members or relatives thereof. These commands quickly became a form of religious art competition. Their subject was generally on Acts of the Apostles. After having exposed on the square, they were hung in the arches of the nave or choir. For painters, it was a great promotion and exposed to see one of their works, testimony to their expertise.

In the early eighteenth ^century, the brotherhood of Goldsmiths experienced great financial difficulties following the disastrous state of France at that time and the reforms of Colbert, and that was the end of this fine tradition.

A window of Notre-Dame, south side chapel.

A detail of this window.

The Prophet Agabus Predicting Saint Paul in his sufferings in Jerusalem, painting by Louis Cheron (1660-1713) - Fifth chapel north side of the nave.

The mays were dispersed in the revolution and many disappeared. Then recovered, they embarrassed the nineteenth ^century restorer Viollet-le-Duc, oriented towards the purity of art Gothic , had nothing to do with this cumbersome decoration baroque or classical. Some find themselves now in the Louvre , in some other churches in various French museums. It is now fifty. The most important were fortunately recovered by the cathedral and now adorn the side chapels of the nave of Notre Dame.

Chapels South Side

• The first chapel (span 4) is the ancient chapel of goldsmiths. Since 1964, they were returned. There is the May of 1651: The stoning of St. Stephen by Charles Le Brun.
• The second chapel houses the Martyrdom of St. Andrew also Charles Le Brun. This is the May of 1647. It shows also the martyrdom of St. Bartholomew work Lubin Baugin painter of the seventeenth ^century.
• The chapel contains the third of May 1643, Crucifixion of St. Peter's work Sbastien Bourdon .
• Fourth chapel of St. Peter Preaching in Jerusalem (May 1642), painting by Charles Poerson.
• Fifth Chapel: The Centurion Cornelius at the feet of St. Peter, May 1639, the work of Aubin Vouet.
• Sixth chapel contains the May 1637, Conversion of St. Paul by Laurent de La Hyre. It also admires a Nativity of the Virgin of Le Nain.
• Seventh Chapel: May 1635, Saint Peter curing the sick with his shadow by Laurent de La Hyre also.

Side chapels north

From west to east, from the front to the chorus:

• The first chapel contains the baptismal font made from the plans of Viollet-le-Duc. There is also the May of 1634, The descent of the Holy Spirit of Jacques Blanchard , and The Adoration of the Shepherds of Jerome Frank , created in 1585 .
• Second chapel you can see St. Paul blinds Barjesu the false prophet, May 1650 implementation of Nicolas Loir.
• The third chapel or chapel of the Holy Childhood (Childhood or Missionary), contains the shrine of St. Paul Chen , a martyr. The latter, Chinese seminarian at the seminary of Tsingay in China was beheaded for his faith in July 1861 with three other Chinese Christians. These four martyrs were beatified in 1909 by Pope Pius X and canonized by John Paul II on October ^1, 2000. The chapel also houses the May 1755 Representative Flogging of St. Paul and St. Silas Louis Testelin.
• Fourth chapel: May 1670 The work of Gabriel Blanchard's Nephew represents Saint Andrew leaping with joy at the sight of his punishment. The chapel also contains the monument to Cardinal Amette created in 1923 by Hippolyte Lefbvre.
• The fifth chapel is dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico. It contains the May 1687 depicting the Prophet Agabus predicted that Paul 's sufferings in Jerusalem, designed by Louis Cheron.
• Sixth Chapel: May 1702, the son of Sceva beaten by the devil by Matthew Elias. The son of Sceva were two Jewish exorcists. You can also see The Martyrdom of Saint Catherine of paint painter and engraver Joseph-Marie Vien , dated 1752.
• Finally the seventh chapel contains the gravestone of Canon Stephen Yvert.

The choir and its periphery

The choir of the cathedral is surrounded by a double ambulatory. It consists of five bays with rectangular or straight topped by two arches sexpartite. The apse is five parts, corresponding to five radiating chapels. The elevation of the first span is similar to that of the transept , which is to say, has four levels: a small pink is interposed between the galleries and the high windows. Cons by other spans including the apse, were elevated to three levels, similar to that of the nave (large arcades, gallery and clerestory windows). All around the choir, the gallery is lit by windows on two lancets, structure found at the upper windows. Both of these are lancets surmounted by a large oculus.

View of the new altar commissioned by ^Monsignor Lustiger. A mass is celebrated, clearly visible from the transept. Basically the rosette south.

The apse of the choir of Notre-Dame, seen from the ambulatory: a view of the remarkable piet of Nicolas Coustou , established in the early eighteenth ^century.

The choir of Our Lady was overhauled in the early eighteenth ^century, when Robert de Cotte implanted the vow of Louis XIII, following the decision of Louis XIV. The installation work took place in the said vow of 1708 to 1725 and ended well after the death of Louis XIV. The cathedral suffered irreparable losses while some, such as the demolition of the rood screen of the thirteenth ^century, the destruction of much of the beautiful choir screen, a masterpiece of the ^fourteenth, the destruction of ancient tombs, stalls and the altar.

Instead some new masterpieces, still present today, made their appearance.

All the decoration of the chancel was rebuilt by Robert de Cotte. During the restoration of the nineteenth ^century, Viollet-le-Duc wanting to return to the Gothic style of the building essentially, removed some of the changes made at that time by Cotte, such as the Gothic arches of coating by conventional marble columns supporting arches arched. It also suppressed the altar of de Cotte to return to a medieval altar. The choir of the eighteenth ^century, there still remains the stalls and sculptures that we see behind the high altar

Current members of the choir

To meet the new Catholic rite defined at Vatican Council II , the choir has been somewhat enlarged, it is now also the eastern half of the transept. A new altar was commissioned by Archbishop Jean-Marie Lustiger , serving in this new space, clearly visible from both the nave and two transepts. Well located near the center of the cathedral, the new altar, bronze, was directed by John Reel and Reel Sebastian , artists of sacred art in 1989 . You can see the four evangelists ( Mathew St. , St. Luke , St. Mark and St. John ), and the four great prophets of the Old Testament , namely, Ezekiel , Jeremiah , Isaiah and Daniel.

To the east of the chancel, near the apse there is always the old high altar designed by Viollet-le-Duc in the nineteenth ^century, with the backdrop of the beautiful statues located in the early eighteenth ^century by the architect Robert de Cotte and part of the vow of Louis XIII.

The magnificent pieta of Nicolas Coustou is placed behind the altar. On both sides of it are the statues of the two kings, Louis XIII by William Coustou and Louis XIV carved by Antoine Coysevox. A series of six bronze angel statues around the set and each carry an instrument of the Passion of Christ : a crown of thorns, the nails of the crucifixion, the sponge soaked in vinegar, which surmounted the registration cross, the reed with which Christ was scourged and spear pierced him with the heart.

The stalls of carved wood are installed on both sides of the choir. There were 114. That leaves 78, including 52 high and 26 low. They were conducted in the early eighteenth ^century by Jean Nol and Louis Hammer to the plans of Ren Charpentier and Jean Dugoulon. The high backs of the stalls are decorated with bas-reliefs and separated by piers decorated with scrolls and instruments of the Passion. On each side, ending with stalls archiepiscopal stall, surmounted by a canopy with groups of angels carved by Dugoulon. One of these stalls is reserved for the archbishop, the other being intended for an important guest. The relief of the stall on the right represents the martyrdom of Saint Denis , the left healing Childebert ^I. by St. Germain , bishop of Paris.

Closing of the choir

Closing southern chorus: Jesus appears to the Holy Women (Reign of Philippe IV the Fair - early fourteenth ^century.)

Before the changes made by de Cotte for the installation of the vow of Louis XIII, the choir was enclosed by a wall embellished with base, beginning at the east, that is to say at the top of the apse continued northward, and arrived at the meeting of the transept, continued south, rising on a gallery that closed the western part of the chorus and back down the other side at the corner of the southern transept, to complete to surround the entire chorus back to the east. This magnificent work was sadly mutilated by the amputation of the eastern part first, to install marble columns, classical style intended to support arches and columns and hide and warheads original witnesses to the Art Gothic of the Middle Ages , so called art or low art barbarian. It was then the western part, which disappeared when the rood screen was destroyed. It survives longer than as a side fence, north and south, leaning to the stalls of the canons .

A distinction is today the closing of the north south fence, the two parties with a style and a different age. These are two major works of gothic sculpture , dating from the ^thirteenth and ^fourteenth centuries, representing a series of scenes from the Gospels.

All the scenes, both north and south are polychrome. The colors were restored in the nineteenth ^century by the team of Viollet-le-Duc.

The north end when the last third of the thirteenth ^century, soon after the construction of the gallery today disappeared (around 1260). There are 14 carved scenes from the birth and life of Jesus before his passion. These scenes are linked together without breaking them and thus constitute a single continuum.

The south end of the chorus can be dated to the early ^fourteenth century, when the reign of Philippe IV the Fair of which we are left virtually no other evidence carved. It consists of nine scenes of the apparitions of Christ after his resurrection. Unlike the closing scenes of the north, they are well separated from each other due to the presence of the insulator columns completely.

The chapels around the choir

Chapelle Saint-Guillaume: Mausoleum of Lieutenant General Henry Claude D'Harcourt by Jean-Baptiste Pigalle.

St. Georges Chapel - Statue of Saint George and his dragon.

St George Chapel - Tomb of Bishop Darboy, the work of Jean-Marie Bonnassieux.

Starting from the right of the choir, we meet first, right side, the sacristy of the masses whose bottom is the western arm of the cloister of the Chapter (see the paragraph on the Treasury of the Cathedral Chapter and the Sacristy ).

The next chapel contains the tomb of Bishop Affre. Tracks the location of the entrance to the sacristy of the Chapter which leads to the treasure of the cathedral.

Next is the Chapel of Sainte-Madeleine containing the tomb of Bishop Sibur. The latter, as my lord and my lord Affre Darboy, was assassinated during the nineteenth ^century.

The effigy of Bishop Dubois died in 1929 lies in the ambulatory against the closure of the choir. It was directed by Henri Bouchard.

La Chapelle Saint-Guillaume is the first of five chapels in the apse of the cathedral. It contains the mausoleum of Lieutenant General Henry Claude D'Harcourt by Jean-Baptiste Pigalle , and the Visitation of Jean Jouvenet , dated 1716 and the monument to Jean Jouvenel Orsini and his wife Michelle de Vitry ( XV ^century).

The theme of this composition, called the meeting domestic, was defined in the contract, dated 1 July 1771, the sculptor went with the Countess: At one end of the sarcophagus will be the guardian angel of the lord earl of Harcourt, who saw that coming Countess of Harcourt, lift one hand the tombstone and the other held the torch of Hymen, the Count, who appeared again after a moment of life to heat from his torch sheds its shroud and tend to his wife, his languid Brans ... Behind the Count's death will be holding a sand to show the countess that his hour has come. The countess, at the bottom of the sarcophagus, expresses impatience with his attitude it has to meet her husband at the sight of this meeting, the guardian angel extinguish the torch of Hymen. Several flags and a trophy of arms with a shield bearing the legend: Gesta verbis prvenient, decorate the foundations of this monument. A pyramid on which was written many entries relating to the life of the Earl of Harcourt, formed the background of the picture. Countess of Harcourt, died May 2, 1780, was buried in this chapel.

In the next chapel, Chapelle Saint-Georges, are the tomb of Bishop George Darboy (assassinated in 1871), designed by Jean-Marie Bonnassieux and a statue of St. George. From 1379 to the Revolution, the chapel was the shoemakers.

The third chapel or axial chapel of the cathedral is the Chapel of the Virgin Mary or Our Lady of Sorrows. You can admire the statues of Albert de Gondi , Marshal of France who died in 1602, and Pierre de Gondi , cardinal and bishop of Paris who died in 1616. On one side of the chapel is a fresco of the XIV ^century, showing the Virgin and other saints surrounding the soul of a bishop, Simon Matifas Bucy.

Opposite the entrance of the axial chapel in the ambulatory, you can see, just behind the choir , the recumbent figure of Bishop Simon de Bucy Matifas (died 1304).

The fourth chapel, Chapelle Saint-Marcel, contains the tombs of Bishop of Belloy , cardinal, by Pierre Louis Deseine and Monseigneur de Quelen , works by Adolphe-Victor Geoffroy-Dechaume.

Finally the last of the apsidal chapels or St. Louis Chapel contains the tomb of Cardinal de Noailles carved by Geoffrey-Dechaume.

Latest chapels surrounding the choir are the north side chapels: the Chapel of Saint-Germain can see the tomb of Bishop Juign (d. 1809), performed according to the plans of Viollet-le-Duc.

Finally, in the chapel next door before the Red Chapel of St. Ferdinand, or can find the mausoleums of Monseigneur de Beaumont (died 1781) and Marshal Guebriant (died 1643). We can also see the prayer of Cardinal Morlot (died 1862).

The transept

The Adam of Notre Dame is one of the most beautiful naked Middle Ages. Carved stone to 1260 , as he occupied the loft southeast corner, he was transferred to the south transept. Today, to better protect it, it is the National Museum of the Middle Ages or the Cluny Museum.

The crossing and the start of the south transept. At the center of the photo against the southeast pillar of the cross: the statue of the Virgin of the fourteenth ^century called Notre-Dame de Paris, in fact, from the chapel of Saint-Aignan outside the cathedral. In the background: the choir stalls and with the southern part of the choir screen. On the left, against the pillar, the memorial to the million British dead of the 1914-18 war.

The transept is wider than the nave (plus or minus 14 meters against 12 for the nave). He has no aisles , the overall stability is provided by the foothills outside.

Includes the transept transept and two crossbars of three bays. The two bays closest to the transept are covered with a vault sexpartite, the third in a quadripartite vault. In the first two spans, the elevation has four levels, not three as the nave. The great arches open onto the aisles of the nave. The second level is always up fora. What changes is the addition of a third stage consisting of oculi similar to wheels. The fourth level is the last of the high windows. These are smaller than those of the nave, since the addition of the oculis slashed the corresponding height. In total the top of the roof reaches the same height as the nave or choir.

The wall of the third bay is full at the main arches. It is then topped by two levels of arches decorative blind in the south transept, but only one level in the north transept.

The eastern part of the transept is occupied by the new high altar of the cathedral (see paragraph on the choir of the cathedral).

The south transept rose window and its

There is a picture of Antoine Nicolas, The Fountain of Wisdom made in 1648 . Against the pillar of the south-east transept is a statue of the Virgin known - wrongly - Notre-Dame de Paris (the real statue holding the title of which is the pier of the enclosure door). It is dated the ^fourteenth century and comes from the chapel of Saint-Aignan located in the former convent of Canons of the Island City. She was transferred to Notre Dame in 1818 and placed first at the pier of the Portal of the Virgin in place of the Virgin of the thirteenth ^century mutilated in 1793. In 1855, Viollet-le-Duc placed it in its current location.

Nearby, is a plaque noting that it is in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris has held the trial of rehabilitation of Joan of Arc.

Almost opposite the statue of Our Lady the Virgin, on the pillar southwest of the cross is a memorial to the million dead of the British Empire who fell during the First World War , most of whom are based in France.

It can also be seen as a brace plate indicating the location of Paul Claudel in December 1886 when, aged 18 years and suddenly hit by a religious enlightenment, he converted to Catholicism.

The huge rose by 13.1 meters in diameter, offered by St. Louis and located in the upper end wall of the transept, retains only a portion of its original stained glass windows, some of whom were replaced during a restoration in 1737. The rose still suffered during the revolution of 1830, following the fire at the nearby archbishop. She therefore underwent a further restoration carried out by Viollet-le-Duc who swung 15 degrees to give it a strong vertical axis for the consolidation. It is organized around Christ who occupies the center. All around are represented the wise virgins and foolish virgins, saints, angels, apostles, saints.

The north transept rose window and its

The north rose window dates from the thirteenth ^century. It is a masterpiece of Gothic.

It can be seen against the north-east pillar of the transept, a statue of Saint Denis , the work of Nicolas Coustou.

The back wall of the north transept has three levels: a door surmounted by a wall unadorned. The second level consists of a skeleton nine arches of two lancets. Finally a third stage consists of the rosette. Unlike the rose south, the north rose window has maintained almost intact its original stained glass windows of the thirteenth ^century. The center is occupied by the Virgin Mary. Revolve around her judges, kings, priests and prophets of the Old Testament.

The lower portion of back wall of the transept opens the gate of the cloister.

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  The north rose window of Notre-Dame de Paris

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  The south rose window was restored in 1737

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  Exterior view of the south rose window

The chandeliers - The Crown of Light

In the Middle Ages , people called lampesier Lampia or a chandelier shaped ring often large diameter, bearing small oil wells fitted with locks, and suspended by one or more channels, usually three. It could be iron, wood or silver or copper. These Lampia sometimes wore a large number of buckets or candle wax: they were called Crowns of light. They were lit during major festivals and other ceremonies.

The great cathedrals of Notre-Dame which were filled. These crowns were richly decorated: made of gilded copper, they are adjoined enamels, crystal balls, metal lace and other embellishments for making them look stunning. These crowns of light had not only those functions to illuminate and beautify the shrine gleaming, they also had a religious function: accounting for the holidays the light of Christ illuminating the world.

In the ^nineteenth century, Notre-Dame de Paris had lost its high crown of light and Viollet-le-Duc's tasks was to rebuild the Gothic furniture of the sanctuary. He went on to develop designs for a new crown in the Gothic style. The Crown of Light now has two rows of turrets topped by gilded copper. It was performed at the time by the goldsmith -Placide Poussielgue Rusand. Normally hung in the transept , is currently (2007) deposited in the north aisle for restoration.

As for the other chandeliers in the nave of the cathedral, they are golden and bronze dating from the same period ^{The organ of Notre-Dame de Paris}

The organ

Grand Organ

It is believed that there were organ at Notre Dame when it was built in the twelfth ^century, but initially it was not likely that small instruments housed in the choir. A pipe organ was probably built during the XIII ^century. In the fourteenth ^century, in 1330 the accounts of the Cathedral make state compensation paid to an organist. A few years later chronicle mentions the name of Jean de Bruges , organist, and perhaps also an organ builder. At that time the organ was suspended in a high window of the nave (as found today in the cathedral of Cologne in particular). It was a little more important organ than 6 feet, with a single keyboard and 4-6 pipes per note . That in 1401 we decided to build a new organ on the platform located above the main door of the nave beneath the great rose window. Since then, fifty successive organists at the keyboards of this organ.

From century to century, the organ enlarges and undergoes multiple reconstructions. This is the eighteenth ^century it reached the current proportions. Over the centuries, the organ benefited from various technical improvements, but each reconstruction, the organ builders preserved the best of the anterior instrumentation. Thus, there are still some tips to date from the Middle Ages.

During the revolution, the organ was saved from destruction and depredation through interpretation of patriotic music. Thus in 1792 the organist Balbastre, composed variations on the basis of the Marseillaise and the famous air ira. In 1867-68, following the restoration of the cathedral and its furniture in the ^nineteenth century led by Eugene Viollet-le-Duc , significant improvements were carried out by the organ builder Aristide Cavaille-Coll.

Instrument

The major organs of current Notre Dame de Paris ^, resulting in total subsequent works of several major organ builders: Thierry in 1733, Franois-Henri Clicquot in 1788, Aristide Cavaille-Coll in 1868 and Boisseau / A> since 1960, with the collaboration of Synaptel in 1992. In 1868, they included 86 games. Currently, after many additions and restoration, they have 111 games since 1992. There are about eight thousand pipes. Digital transmission has become the five keyboards and a raffle of 111 games.

List of recent incumbents

• Louis Vierne 1900-1937 (Assistants: Maurice Durufl and Lonce de Saint-Martin );
• Lonce de Saint-Martin : 1932-1954;
• Pierre Cochereau : 1955-1984;
• Yves Devernay : 1985-1990;

Since the death of Yves Devernay in 1990, organs were held by three co-owners:

• Olivier Latry : 1985;
• Philippe Lefebvre : 1985;
• Jean-Pierre Leguay : 1985.

The choir organ

The organ of the choir of Notre-Dame de Paris is an instrument of 30 stops over two manuals and pedal. It has two thousand pipes and is placed on the north side of the chancel, above the stalls.

List of recent incumbents

• Jacques Marichal : 1934-1987;
• Yves Castagnet : 1988;
• Johann Vexo : 2004.

History

Shortly after the revolution in the early nineteenth ^century century, the fashion spread choir organ in churches to address the shortage of musicians in worship. The history of the choir organ in the cathedral of Paris was also during this period begins in 1839.

Before the Revolution, the clergy were numerous and took charge of the sung parts of boards. There was therefore no need of support. Thus in 1790 at Notre-Dame de Paris, there were 51 canons of the chapter , plus a staff of 180 clergymen which were added 14 singers and a Master of 12 children. The only accompaniment was the regular bass instruments: snake , double bass and bassoon (currently preserved at the Museum of Notre-Dame). But after the Revolution, the number of clergy were greatly reduced and the cathedral, like other Parisian churches, needed to strengthen the choruses by a suitable means of support and complete.

A first instrument, which was not lifted, it seems, never place in the choir, was commissioned in 1839 for the Master of the Cathedral. Built by the house Daublaine Callinet and he was soon deemed insufficient for the choir of Notre Dame. It was sold to the parish of Cordes-sur-Ciel ( Tarn ) in 1842. He was listed as a historic monument May 11, 1977.

A new instrument, also designed by the house and Daublaine Callinet, was installed April 30, 1841. It was placed to the left of the Pieta of Nicolas Coustou. Provided with a buffet style gothic , the organ had two keyboards and a pedal. He was heard for the first time May 2, 1841 at the christening of the Comte de Paris. But in 1857, the restoration of the cathedral includes the alteration of Notre Dame furniture redesigned by Viollet-le-Duc , would remove the instrument, which was sold to the church of Saint-Etienne Roanne.

In 1863 an organ was installed in a Merklin Gothic sideboard designed by Viollet-le-Duc. It was amended several times and restored. They installed above the stalls on the north side of the choir. Restoration restoration, it was found sunk in 1966 and replaced in 1969 by the present organ created by Robert Boisseau.

Functions

The choir organ performs many functions. For the daily offices of the week it occurs alone, sometimes solo, sometimes accompanying and supporting the cantor or congregation. On weekends or during important ceremonies, it alternates with the main organ for dialogue between the singing of the crowd and singing from the chorus. Finally the choir organ is the preferred partner of the Master of the Cathedral, especially for the many concerts and recordings, as well as the offices where the choir and organ join their voices.

The Treasure of Notre-Dame de Paris

The treasure of Notre-Dame de Paris is exhibited in the building Revival of Chapter Sacristy, built in the ^nineteenth century by Viollet-le-Duc, situated south of the cathedral choir. It is accessed by a right side chapels of the choir. The public can now visit every day except Sunday.

The Sacristy Chapter

In the foreground, in front of the south transept, the building of the Sacristy of the Chapter, dating from the ^nineteenth century and century in the south-east of the building houses the treasure of Notre Dame. At right, the background: the choir of the cathedral.

In the 1830s, construction of a new sacristy Chapter needed. Indeed, the previous building, built by Soufflot in 1758, first seriously damaged during the riots of 29 July 1830, had been a sad fate February 14, 1831. That day, in fact, the archbishop's palace and the sacristy were looted and destroyed. ^{The windows of the sacristy of the Chapter}

The windows had been planned originally white, but Prosper Merimee has highlighted the disadvantages of this absence of color, it came quickly to implement stained glass. Those in the main hall of the building are a series of bishops of Paris were executed by the Marshal of Metz.

The arches of the cloister galleries have eighteen glass windows whose colors are lighter work of Alfred Gerente after designs of Louis Steinheil. These windows represent the legend of St. Genevieve , patroness of the city of Paris. You can see the bottom of each window a Latin inscription describing the scene. Only the last six scenes from the life of the saint can be admired by visitors. It is those who are in the corridor giving access to the Treasury. At the top of the main canopy of the cloister, is a window depicting the Coronation of the Virgin.

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  Sainte Genevieve gives sight to two blind men - work of Alfred Gerente - Cloister Chapter

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  Sainte Genevieve miraculously filled vases for builders of Chapel - Cloister Chapter

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  St. Genevieve obtains his prayer that the rain that threatens the harvest away - work of Alfred Gerente - Cloister Chapter

• 

  Death of St. Genevieve - work of Alfred Gerente - Cloister Chapter

Reliquary and relics

The second shrine of the Holy Crown of Thorns, made in 1862 by Placide Poussielgue-Rusand.

The main parts are exposed to treasure the relics of the Holy Crown of Thorns and a fragment of the Cross of Christ, and a highlight of the latter. Are presented to the public that the reliquaries that various donors of the nineteenth ^century (which Napoleon ^I and Napoleon III ) offered to accommodate them. Recall that during the revolution had looted the treasury, and the various objects it contained scattered or destroyed.

The centerpiece of the treasure is the reliquary of the Cross Palatine who has been there since 1828. It is so named because it belonged to the Palatine Princess Anne of Cleves died of Gonzaga in the seventeenth ^century. This shrine is intended to contain a piece of the True Cross and a highlight of the latter. There is a blade with gold Greek inscription stating that the fragment belonged to the Byzantine emperor Manuel I ^Komnenos died in 1180.

Another piece of great value, the old relic of the Holy Crown of Thorns which was created in 1804 by Charles Cahier. Crown of Thorns was acquired from Baldwin II of Courtenay , the last Latin emperor of Constantinople, by St. Louis , King of France. It is visible during Lent and Holy Week. During the restoration of 1845 by the team of Viollet-le-Duc, the creation of a new shrine reliquary for the Crown of Thorns won the race. This new reliquary, gilded bronze and silver, diamonds and precious stones, date from 1862. It has a height of 88 cm and a width of 49 cm. It was realized after the drawing by Viollet-le-Duc by the goldsmith -Placide Poussielgue Rusand , the same who executed the Crown of Light from the Cathedral. Adolphe-Victor Geoffroy-Dechaume worked for its realization in sculpture of FIGS.

The treasury also contains relics of St. Louis , King of France: clothing, a piece of his jaw and a rib.

Other objects of the treasure

They are mostly objects dating from the ^nineteenth and ^twentieth centuries are on display, the pieces have been previously owned in great part, looted, destroyed, dispersed or melted in the revolution.

• There are many valuable manuscripts and printed books that can be seen exposed in the corridors.
• A beautiful collection of vestments.
• Memories of Viollet-le-Duc and his restoration work, as memories of murdered three archbishops ( Affre lord , my lord Sibour and Monsignor Darboy ), as well as Paul Claudel and his conversion in the grounds of Notre Dame.
• In the main hall is a fine collection of works of silverware, including the shrines already described. You can find such a Madonna and Child, donated to the cathedral by King Charles X in 1826, the work of Odiot. In the same room you can admire a large collection of religious objects ( chalices , cruets , pitchers , etc.)..
• Memories of the popes: including chalices of Leo XIII and John XXIII.
• In the chapter house, you can admire a large collection of 258 cameos in the image of all the popes since St. Peter to Pius IX.
• Among the objects prior to the revolution gathered in furniture designed by Viollet-le-Duc is a beautiful cross in ebony and copper, with Christ in ivory. This small masterpiece is attributed to Francis Girardon.
• Among the most recent works, one can admire a baptismal font and ewer and a candlestick Paschal works of sculptor and goldsmith Goudji (1986). At WYD 1997, John Paul II used this baptismal font: therefore, the image of the baptism of catechumens in the baptismal font Goudji will travel around the world.

Tourism

The cosmopolitan crowd of visitors daily press on the square. Here at the gate of the Last Judgement.

Notre-Dame de Paris, with about 13.5 million pilgrims and visitors each year (2006), the monument of France and perhaps Europe's most visited (for France before the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Montmartre , the Louvre , the Parc du Chteau de Versailles and the Eiffel Tower ^Visits

Notre-Dame de Paris is open daily from 8 am 00 to 18: 45 pm (19 h 15 on Saturday and Sunday). Admission is free. There is a reception and information located on the inside, after the great portal of the Last Judgement on entering. This office is open Monday through Friday from 9 am 30-18 am 00, and Saturday and Sunday from 9 am 00-18 am 00.

Paying visits to the cathedral towers are organized daily by the Centre National Monuments (except ¹ January, ¹ May and 25 December). They take place from 10:00 to 5:30 p.m. (last admission takes place at 16 h 45). Night tours in summer. The weekend: 10 to 23 hours .

When visiting the towers, the growing is done on foot south tower, which provides access to the Gallery of Dreams, then to the summit of the south tower. Visitors can also admire the famous bumblebee Emmanuel. The waiting time can be very long because, for security reasons, the maximum flow is limited to twenty visitors admitted every 10 minutes. The visit is free the first Sunday of each month (between ¹ November and 31 March).

In 2008, there were tours in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Russian and Chinese. The Centre also organizes national monuments visits sign language (LSF) for the hearing impaired.

In addition, each day, tours are offered free by the cathedral. They last about an hour and are designed to present the Christian message through works of art gathered in the sanctuary .

Religious services

View of Notre Dame during a church service

Notre Dame church is a particularly vivid. Five offices are celebrated each day from Monday to Saturday and seven on Sunday. By adding the religious parties and exceptional service, more than 2 000 per year celebrations which take place under the arches of the cathedral.

Notre Dame in the arts

Paintings

Notre-Dame de Paris in an illumination of Jean Fouquet (XV ^century): The Hand of God protects the faithful - Hours of tienne Chevalier, New York , The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

• Several miniatures taken from Book of Hours of Etienne Chevalier by Jean Fouquet (between 1452 and 1460): The Hand of God protects the faithful ( Metropolitan Museum of Art ), Scene ( Muse Cond , Chantilly) represents again a door, The Miracle of St. Vrain ( Marmottan-Monet Museum ) is an interior view and the Piet (Muse Cond) accounts for the bedside.
• The Coronation of Napoleon : Table of Jacques Louis David. The scene takes place in the choir of the cathedral as it appeared at that time, with the decoration of columns designed by Robert de Cotte at the turn of the ^seventeenth and ^eighteenth centuries ( the Louvre ).

Songs

• Notre-Dame de Paris song ( Edith Piaf ).
• Notre-Dame de Paris , Musical (Helene Segara, Daniel Lavoie, Garou, Bruno Pelletier, Patrick Fiori, Luck Mervil, Julie Zenatti - Richard Cocciante and Luc Plamondon)

Literature: Comics

• Travel Jhen: Notre Dame ( Jacques Martin )
• Louis Moon ( Alban Guillemois )

Literature: novels

Notre-Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo

Notre-Dame de Paris is the title of a famous novel by Victor Hugo, published in 1831 , the cathedral serves as backdrop to frame the narrative: Quasimodo , the deformed bell ringer and her impossible love for the gypsy dancer Esmeralda , itself subject the desire of the renegade priest Frollo. This novel focuses on two distinct topics: the classic story of compassion and heroism, and the reaction of Victor Hugo address changes that have crippled the boldness of the Middle Ages , which is in phase with the romanticism and Catholics who want to return to the fervor " naive. " He also wrote the novel partly also to captivate the attention of the French towards the cathedral, indignant at the pitiful state in which the building was in his day.

Other notable appearances

• Angels and Falcons ( Patrick Grainville )
• The Knights of Christ ( Henry Pigaillem )
• Pigeons of Notre Dame ( Patrick Virelles )
• The Flight of the pigeon ( Yuval Shimoni )
• The Exiles , by Honore de Balzac , 1831
• The Wrong Side of contemporary history , Honore de Balzac 1848

Children's Literature

• Aten and Sophie to the discovery of Notre Dame ( Viviane Allard )
• Enigma at Notre Dame ( Helen Laserre )
• Groundhog of Our Lady ( Philippe Legendre-Kvater )
• The Brigands of the Saint-Michel ( Jean-Marc Be )
• Notre-Dame de Paris ( Marguerite Grassioulet )
• Simon, a builder of cathedrals ( Jacqueline Mirande )
• The night Zfirottes ( Claude Ponti )

Nonfiction

• Notre-Dame de Paris (Editions Leconte)
• Notre-Dame de Paris at the crossroads of cultures ( Marie-Jeanne Coloni )
• Around Notre Dame

Film & Television

Victor Hugo's novel has given rise to many film adaptations, including the Disney cartoon, "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" which remains one of the novel adaptations in film and television best known to date.

References

Notes

Related articles

Notre-Dame de Paris at night in winter

• The zero point of the roads of France
• The French cathedrals
• The list of bishops and archbishops of Paris
• The list of bishops and archbishops French in 1748
• The French Catholic districts since 2002
• The ecclesiastical province of Paris
• The Archdiocese of Paris
• Scandal of Our Lady
• College of Notre Dame de Paris (soundtrack)

External Links

• (En) Site Official Notre-Dame de Paris
• (En) Archeological Crypt of the Parvis Notre-Dame

Bibliography

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