A place of worship that has become a cult, the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris is located in the 4th arrondissement of the French capital.
A place of worship that has become a cult, the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris is located in the 4th arrondissement of the French capital.
Everything is excessive in the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris. Its construction lasted 182 years (1163-1345), which explains its particular architecture. Its ancient framework, now destroyed, was nicknamed “the forest” because it represented 21 hectares of oak trees. It was one of the largest cathedrals in the West when it was inaugurated, with a capacity of 9,000 seats.
Today, it is the pride of the city and attracts many tourists. There are 30,000 tourists every day!
However, the building was threatened during the French Revolution: the kings of its portal were beheaded, the church was plundered, became a temple and was even used as a warehouse. It was even considered to be razed.
But Victor Hugo’s novel, published in 1831, changes everything. The book was a huge popular success and triggered an awareness. Under the direction of Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris was given a new lease on life and was adorned with its most beautiful finery as we know it today.
Since 1924, its square has been the reference point for calculating the distances of all roads in France.
The Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris is a pop culture icon. It is found in many works of fiction: in films (Is Paris Burning?), in series (Perception), in music (Belles of Paris by the Beach Boys), in comic books (The Amazing Spider-Man) or in novels (Vango by Timothée de Fombelle).
The café of Amélie, the mansion of Untouchables, the jazz club of the finale of La La Land, the Hôtel du Nord of the mythical replica of Arletty “Atmosphere”, the cinema of A bout de souffle, the restaurant of Ratatouille, the quays of the Seine of Midnight in Paris, the secret places of the Da Vinci Code, the grocery store of January in La Traversée de Paris , the Bridge of Inception and Peur sur la ville, the addresses of the spectacular scenes of Mission Impossible 6, but also series Call my agent, Gears, Le Bureau des légendes, Sense8, Sex and The City, Gossip Girl…
Etienne Daho’s Café de Flore, Jay-Z and Kanye West’s hotel in Nas in Paris, Serge Gainsbourg’s Poinçonneur des Lilas metro station, Serge Reggiani and Marc Lavoine’s Mirabeau Bridge, Mc Solaar’s Lyon station…
The places evoked in the comics Adèle Blanc-Sec, Largo Winch, Blake and Mortimer, Michel Vaillant…
But also in the novels of Ernest Hemingway, Victor Hugo, Leo Malet, Daniel Pennac, Marc Levy, Guillaume Musso… you’ll find all the must-see places of Parisian Pop Culture in this new guide.
