Welcome to the Notre Dame Cathedral!
The Notre Dame Cathedral is a Gothic cathedral that is still used today as a Roman Catholic cathedral and is the home of the Archbishop of Paris. It is often regarded as on of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture. Construction began on the cathedral in 1163, and was completed as you see it today in 1345. There are a total of five bells at the cathedral, one large bell which is to mark the hours of the day and there are four additional bells that are used only for special services and festivals. In 1991 a major restoration project began to restore the many statues and architectural details of the cathedral, at the time a 10 year time line was proposed but as of 2008 the restoration is still in progress.
References: Wikipedia, image: cuellar
Visiting Notre Dame
The cathedral is open year round from 8:00am to 6:45pm. Admission to the cathedral itself is free, however admission to the towers and treasury run between 6 and 7 Euros each. You will want to allow at least 3 hours to really experience both the exterior and interior of this magnificent cathedral.
Reference: Frommers
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