Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris
Obviously, Notre-Dame de Paris has seen better days since the fire that unfortunately burned the beautiful 14th Century building. It actually took 150 years (completed in 1345) to build the church which replaced two previous churches which themselves had replaced a Roman temple to Jupiter. One of those churches that Notre Dame replaced was built by Clovis the First, the King of the Franks in 508 after he declared Paris the new capitol. The site is old and well used with a lot of history.
As a matter of fact, in 845 after a small Frankish Civil War, the Viking Ragnar led 120 ships and 5,000 men down the Seine and seized the city of Paris, which at that time was mostly on the island, île de la Cité. The Vikings hanged 111 Parisian men who tried to defy them. They only left after they were paid an exorbitant amount.
Since then, the city of Paris has expanded well beyond the island. Thankfully, the Cathedral survived the Unholy Revolution, although many of the statues were beheaded or destroyed. One of the statues, the Gallery of Kings (Kings of Judea, not France which the uneducated mob of Revolutionaries did not know) was built in 1220
The Cathedral is always busy and packed full of tourists and armed National Guard members. It’s best to visit early in the morning. The Square in front of the Cathedral (Square Jean XXIII) is where most people snap their pictures and admire the church but if you walk around it, you’ll find it nearly empty of people and quite peaceful. I only took one pic from the square. The rest of the pictures I took while walking around the Grand Old Lady of Paris. On a side note, the similar but even more impressive and beautiful Notre Dame de Reims is worth a visit as well.
