Notre-Dame's History: From 1163 to the Restoration

Few buildings have witnessed as much as Notre-Dame de Paris. In more than eight centuries it has seen a medieval building site, a revolution, an imperial coronation, a novel that saved it, a devastating fire and a rebirth watched around the world. Here is the story in brief.

A cathedral for a rising capital (1163–1345)

Construction began in 1163 under Bishop Maurice de Sully, who set out to replace the older churches on the Île de la Cité with something worthy of a growing Paris. The choir was consecrated in 1182, the nave followed, and the west front with its towers rose in the first half of the 13th century. Work continued on chapels and detail until around 1345 — close to two centuries from first stone to finished cathedral.

Revolution and neglect

The Revolution was hard on Notre-Dame. In 1793 crowds beheaded the 28 statues of the Gallery of Kings, mistaking these biblical kings for kings of France, and the building was rededicated to the Cult of Reason. By the early 19th century it was shabby and its future uncertain.

A coronation and a novel

Two things restored the cathedral to the heart of French life. In 1804 Napoleon crowned himself Emperor inside its walls, and in 1831 Victor Hugo published Notre-Dame de Paris — The Hunchback of Notre-Dame — whose success turned public attention back to the neglected building and built support for its rescue.

The Viollet-le-Duc restoration

From 1844, the architects Viollet-le-Duc and Lassus spent two decades repairing and reimagining the cathedral. They recreated lost sculpture and added features now inseparable from it: the soaring lead-and-oak spire over the crossing and the brooding chimeras that watch over the city from the towers.

The 2019 fire and the rebuild

On 15 April 2019, fire broke out beneath the roof during restoration works, destroying the spire and the medieval oak roof frame and bringing down parts of the vault. The towers, walls and rose windows survived, and the Crown of Thorns was rescued. A five-year restoration — thousands of artisans, traditional oak carpentry, a spire rebuilt to Viollet-le-Duc's design — returned Notre-Dame to worship and visitors on 7–8 December 2024, with the Bell Towers reopening in September 2025.