Show Notes for Episode 4: Notre Dame Cathedral

Categories: First Time in Paris, Paris

[03:00] Notre Dame is the head church for Paris today, but the original cathedral on this site was called Saint Etienne. Why they upgraded from Saint Etienne to Notre Dame. How the new church was commissioned. Why there are so many churches in France called Notre Dame?

[06:00] Why is it so important to visit Notre Dame de Paris? What makes it so special? A very innovative church built as a landmark and incredibly beautiful. Even if you only have one day in Paris, you should see it.

[08:00] They started to build this church in 1163, we know who commissioned and paid for it, but we don’t know who designed it or who built it. All the work was done by hand and everything took a long time. The church was finished and functional in 1250.

[11:00] Why such a big church? People lived in precarious conditions, having a massive church nearby gave them confidence. None of the people that started to build it saw it finished. Notre Dame was built for eternity.

[13:30] In the 1100s Paris was the biggest city in Europe, there were about 50,000 people there, which is a lot for the Middle Ages. Those were prosperous days for Paris.

[16:00] People had never seen anything that big before, this cathedral held them in awe. It still has that same effect on people today.

[18:30] What does the word Gothic mean? Many things!

[22:30] Most people didn’t like the Gothic style much and they tried to get rid of it, even to the point of tearing down Notre Dame.

[23:40] The role of Victor Hugo in preserving Notre Dame.

[26:00] A definition of Gothic style.

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Categories: First Time in Paris, Paris