Notre-Dame Cathedral
Notre-Dame reopened on 7 December 2024, more than five years after the fire that brought its spire and centuries-old oak roof to the ground. Walking in now, you are entering a building simultaneously ancient and raw — the soot is gone, the stone is pale again, and a new four-metre cedar reliquary holds the Crown of Thorns at the heart of the nave.
The numbers alone give you a sense of the ambition: 128 metres long, towers rising 69 metres, space inside for 6,000 people. But the rose windows, which survived the fire and remain among the finest medieval stained glass anywhere, are what stop most visitors mid-step.
💛 What travellers fall for
People who return tend to book a timed-entry slot online a few days ahead — the free walk-in queue runs two to three hours. The Treasury (12€) is quieter than the main nave and worth the detour. Mark your calendar for 20–21 September 2025, when the towers reopen to the public, free of charge, from 9am to 11pm.
Deals in Notre-Dame Cathedral
Book directly at the provider
How Notre-Dame Cathedral came to be
Bishop Maurice de Sully initiated the project in 1160, and the cornerstone was laid between March and April 1163 in the presence of King Louis VII and Pope Alexander III. Construction ran for nearly two centuries, finally completing in 1345. The first architect's name is lost to history, but a carved inscription in the south transept records master builder Jean de Chelles, who died in 1258. He and Pierre de Montreuil developed structural innovations — flying buttresses, soaring vaults — that pushed Gothic architecture into new territory. Pierre de Chelles continued the work from around 1296.
The original 13th-century spire was removed in 1786 after wind damage. Eugène Viollet-le-Duc recreated it during his 19th-century restoration, rebuilding it in oak sheathed in lead — the very structure that collapsed in the 2019 fire. Architect Philippe Villeneuve is overseeing the current restoration, which continues even as the doors are open again.
Who and what shaped it
People who shaped it
Landmark buildings
Plan your visit
On the map
When to go
Right now
Background & history adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA) · specs from Wikidata (CC0) · weather from Open-Meteo · map data © OpenStreetMap contributors · photos from Wikimedia Commons / Unsplash with per-image credit. No third-party reviews or social posts reproduced.