Notre-Dame de Paris

Notre-Dame de Paris is the Roman Catholic cathedral of the Archdiocese of Paris, rising on the Ile de la Cite in the middle of the Seine. Built between 1163 and 1345, it is one of the earliest French Gothic cathedrals and defined the urban cathedral type with its flying buttresses, three monumental rose windows and twin-tower facade. Here Napoleon crowned himself emperor in 1804, here Joan of Arc was beatified in 1909, and the fire of 15 April 2019, which destroyed the medieval oak roof and the central spire, shook the world. Since the spectacular reopening in December 2024 the cathedral is accessible again, with free interior visits booked online; the towers remain closed to climbers for the time being.