NOTRE DAME, History
- Audio File length: 2.34
- Author: STEFANO ZUFFI E DAVIDE TORTORELLA
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Language: English / USA
Now focus on the cathedral. Whilst you're gazing at the gargoyles - the extraordinary monstrous creatures adorning the western facade, I'll tell you the fascinating story of Notre-Dame.
It all began in the middle ages when the bishop of Paris, Maurice de Sully, realized that the old basilica of Saint-Étienne was falling into ruin, and decided to replace it with a new church. Easier said than done - it took almost two centuries! Pope Alexander III laid the first stone in 1163, and over the next 20 or so years the apse and choir were completed. Then in the first half of the 13th century the splendid facade that you are now looking at was finished. Around 1250 the western towers and the rose window on the north side were ready, but the work was only completely finished in 1345....