The Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris has a rich history more than worthy of its location in the heart of France’s capital city. Paris was home to one of the first major cathedrals in France, St. Stepehen’s, built in the 4th century AD, which had served as the defacto royal chapel since the earliest days of the Frankish kingdom and the Merovingian dynasty. By the middle of the 12th century, France had become one of the largest and most powerful Christian kingdoms, while at the same time its aging cathedral seemed less and less adequate to the royal dignity. In 1160, the city’s bishop, Maurice de Sully, decided that a new cathedral was needed, and had the old one ignominiously demolished. So grand were the plans for the new cathedral that the Pope himself came from Rome to witness the placement of the foundation stone. The building of Notre Dame, one of the largest cathedrals yet constructed, was a marvel of engineering. The bulk of the structure was completed in under a century, practically a record for the Middle Ages. It included many new and reworked elements that would later come to define Gothic architecture. By the time of its completion in the mid-14th century, the cathedral had already witnessed several major events, including the first meeting of the Estates General, the launching of the Third Crusade and a number of royal coronations.

Notre Dame de Paris was a major center of French religious life in the late Middle Ages, though the city’s occupation by the English during the Hundred Year’s War as well as other turbulent periods often saw its importance eclipsed. As a bastion of Catholicism and of the status quo, Notre Dame de Paris was often a target of vengeful enemies, including the Hugenots in the 16th century and Revolutionaries in the 18th century. On both occasions the cathedral was vandalized. Because of this, by the time of the Revolution the cathedral was in an advanced state of disrepair. Notre Dame’s last truly great moment in history came in 1804, when the Pope visited in order to crown Napolean Bonaparte as the Emperor of France. This tremendous event notwithstanding, Notre Dame was quickly fading into historical and architectural obsolescence. Everything changed in 1831, when Victor Hugo published one of his most famous works, The Hunchback of Notre Dame. In the wake of this tremendously successful book, the people of Paris were overcome by a renewed sense of interest in the cathedral as a beloved symbol of their city, if not so much of a beloved religious site. A massive restoration effort ensued, saving the cathedral from demolition. It has been a precious municipal treasure of the city ever since.