Heavenly Palate: [Four Representative Architectures in Paris] Notre Dame de Paris

I wrote about the Part I of The four representative architectures in Paris last week.

If you haven't seen my previous posting about l'Arc-de-Triomphe and Eiffel tower,

see here:

http://heavenlypalate.blogspot.ca/2012/09/four-representative-architectures-in.html

Part II is about Notre Dame de Paris,

and the Musée du Louvre will be posted in Part III.

First, it was my great mistake to think that I would be able to condense these two grand monuments in one posting, which I realized impossible.
So, each of these symbolic edifices will be posted separately.

We had wanted to go up a tower of Notre-Dame, but gave up the idea quickly when we saw the people waiting in a queue. Probably, we would have ended up waiting for our turn more than 2 hours! We were sad of the fact that we couldn't go up the tower of Notre Dame, but still glad that we decided not to wait there.

I had thought all the tourists in Paris gathered at the Tour Eiffel.

In reality, only half of the tourists were there and the other half of the tourists were at Notre-Dame!

Let me tell you a brief history about Notre Dame.

Cathedral de Notre Dame de Paris is considered one of the finest French Gothic architecture and among the most famous churches ever built. The catherdral houses the official chair("cathera") of the archbishop of Paris.

This is an amazing piece of the finest architectures of France, which you should not every miss if you are in Paris.

You must have seen so many pictures of this famous catholic church.
You could simply admire the monument itself.
But, if you see it more in detail, part by part, you will be even more enthralled by its allure. Let me show you some of its stunning details. I'd love to show all, mainly because I don't know all myself since there are so many.

The groundbreaking of the Notre Dame de Paris started in 1163, and all the elements were completed only in 1345. It took 182 years to complete the construction.

Can you imagine how much effort and devotion must have been exerted to complete it in such a grande monument?

The length of the cathedral is 128 metres (420 ft) while the width is 69 metres (226 ft) and the height of the two towers was 69 metres (226 ft).

The circle stands for the boundless, the perfect figure without beginning or end, the image of God.

(Reference: Official website of Notre Dame de Paris)

At the centre of the façade, a large rose measuring 9.60 m in diameter which was created around 1225, stands at the centre of the façade, forming a halo above a statue of the Virgin with Child between two angels. On the right and the left, there are statues of Adam and Eve.

These statues were rebuilt by Viollet-le-Duc in the 19th century.

(Reference: Official website of Notre Dame de Paris)

On the lower level, under the gallery of kings, there are three large portals which are not identical.

The central portal of the west façade is The Portal of the Last Judgement that is taller and wider than the others.

The south portal which is the one placed to the right is The Portal of Saint Anne and the north portal, to the left is the Portal of the Virgin.

These portals are decorated with a multitude of characters featuring large statues which were restored in the 19th century by Viollet-le-Duc.

One of the saints featured by the Portal of the Virgin, the portal left to the Central portal, is Saint Denis. He is the one holding his own head. Denis was martyred during the Decian persecution under the emperor Decius, in the third century. According to the legend, Denis picked up his head beheaded in Montmartre and walked ten kilometres, preaching a sermon the entire way, to the town where he actually died.

I had posted about him after my visit to the Basilique Saint-Denis.

If you are interested in this martyr, see here:

[Basilique Saint-Denis] French Royal Necropolis - The burial place of the French Kings

During the French Revolution, not only the 13th century spire was disassembled, but also the 28 statues from the Gallery of Kings of the west facade and all the major portal statues Virgin from the Cloister portal trumeau were destructed.

Notre-Dame is given back to the Roman Catholic church on 18 April 1802. In 1831, Victor Hugo published The Hunchback of Notre Dame, which was a huge success.

(We visited Victor Hugo's house in Paris. I'll try to do a posting about him)

In 1844, the government of King Louis-Philippe I decreed the restoration of the Paris and the construction of a sacristy. The restoration project was given to two architects: Eugène Viollet-le-Duc and Jean-Baptiste Lassus. Both of them were famous architects, but especially Viollet Le Duc was in charge of restoring a few dozen castles, palaces and cathedrals across France. In 1857, after the death of Lassus, Viollet-le-Duc was left as the sole builder.

The restoration lasted twenty five years and included the construction of a spire("flèche" in French) as well as the addition of the gargoyles.

Viollet-le-Duc added many grotesques, known as gargoyles, on the face of the Notre Dame in Paris.

Architects often used multiple gargoyles on buildings to divide the flow of rainwater off the roof to minimize the potential damage from a rainstorm.

As gargoyles are carved away from the side of

a building, they prevent rainwater from running down masonry walls.

There are a lot and most of them, if not all, are really grotesque.

But, these gargoyles are typcial features of the the Gothic style churches and buildings.

Too bad that we couldn't climb up the tower to see and take better photos of the gargoyles. :(

Well, there always will be next time. That is what I believe! :)

The fameuse spire of Notre Dame.
The spire is 90m(300 feet) tall.
It was also restored under the supervision of Viollet-Le-Duc.

The spire stands out as you see.

The base of the spire of Notre-Dame de Paris is surrounded by four groups of three apostles statues each, by sculptor Geoffrey-Dechaume.

The workers used to "sign" their work and it is not uncommon to find a stone sculpture or a discreetly marked. But it is rare to find a statue of the architect himself. But, that is what Viollet-le-Duc exactly did. The top one showing his back.

Isn't it fascinating, yet daring to put his face, on one of the most famous edifices on earth? :)

The apostle is in fact St. Thomas, patron of architects ...

North façade of Notre Dame.

They are as beautiful as the other façades while it is the façade of which photos are taken far less than the others.

Stained Glass from the inside.

I am amazed by the churches in France that the interior is delicately-decorated as much as the exterior, or the other way round.

Each side of the catheral is very different, yet all of them are graceful and show the ultimate finess.

The vaulted ceiling was breathtakingly beautiful.

The Pietà.

The Pietà is a subject of the Christian art representing the Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus, most often found in sculpture.

There must be The Pietà at any Catholic church in Europe.

I like all the Pietà sculptures, even though I find Virgin Mary of each Pietà looks too young to have a 33-year-old son. :p

Virgin Mary.

As you might know already, Notre Dame means "Our lady", i.e. Virgin Mary.

Joan of Arc or Jeanne d'Arc, a heroine of France and Roman catholic saint.
She also is a patron saint of France, along with along with St. Denis, St. Martin of Tours, St. Louis IX, and St. Theresa of Lisieux.