Notre Dame Cathedral, or Notre Dame de Paris, is a Catholic church in the center of Paris.  The building is one of the symbols of the French capital.  It is located in the eastern part of the city on the site of the first Christian church (St. Stephen's Basilica).  Notre Dame Cathedral is a typical example of European Gothic architecture.  It is noteworthy that it was built over two centuries - from 1163 to 1345.  The height of the cathedral is 35 meters, the height of the bell towers is 69 meters.  To date, only two architects are known who had a hand in the construction of the cathedral, these are Jean de Chelles and Pierre de Montreuil.

 The outer Notre Dame Cathedral is a basilica with galleries and double side aisles.   Before the construction of this structure, such a scheme was practically not used in the construction of religious buildings.  Today it can only be seen in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.  The double naves are divided into two parts by longitudinal rows of columns and smoothly merge into the double deambulatory in the apse.  The successful concept of the interior space and interior of the religious building is preserved due to the fact that the arcades of the central naves are based on uniform columns.  It is surprising that in the construction of the central nave of the cathedral, six-blade vaults are used, since in all similar cathedrals in such situations they resorted to alternating massive supports with thinner ones.   The flat surfaces of the wall structures are also duplicated on the western facade of the building.  The towers in this part of the structure are crowned with double side aisles, since they are wider and more stable.  Thanks to this solution, the buttresses do not protrude too much beyond the volume, moreover, at the level of the first floor they are completely "absorbed" by the opposite wall, which protrudes far forward.

 Interior design The transverse naves of the cathedral, intersecting with the main longitudinal transept, form a cross in plan.  In the center of the long nave is a series of sculptures from the Gospel.   The chapels located in the eastern part of the cathedral house paintings and sculptures by various masters.  The chandelier of the cathedral was made according to a unique drawing by Eugene Viollet-le-Duc.  The cathedral has 110 glazed stained-glass windows that let in daylight.  It is known that the first stained glass windows of Notre Dame Cathedral underwent radical changes at the beginning of the XIV century.  In fact, today only three stained glass windows of large roses, which were mentioned above, are unique.  It should be noted here that medieval glass products were very massive and often consisted of foreign inclusions.  But the cathedral's stained-glass windows skillfully used the flaws of the glazing to enhance the effect of sparkling and flashes of light.   It is noteworthy that one of the famous Christian relics is kept in the cathedral - the crown of thorns of Jesus.   Until the middle of the 11th century, he was on the territory of modern Israel, from where he was taken to Byzantium.   The last emperor of the Constantinople Empire was forced to lay the relic in Venice, but due to lack of funds could not redeem it.  In 1238, Louis IX bought a crown of thorns from the emperor and brought it to Notre dame de Paris.