Notre Dame de Paris

Notre Dame Cathedral is one of the most memorable monuments in Paris and Europe as a whole. This Catholic building is more than eight hundred years old. The construction of the cathedral began in 1163 during the Kong Louis VII reign and was finished 1345. Just as any other famous historical monument, the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris has tragic, but glorious history that will always capture people’s imagination. This monument plays an important role in Catholic religion. Moreover, even nowadays it is often called “our lady” and used by the Roman Catholic Church for Sunday mass. Additionally, it is the seat of the Paris Archbishop. Therefore, the Notre Dame Cathedral is a visual expression of the power of Catholic religion that has been preserved through the centuries.

The Notre Dame cathedral is the most representative example of French Gothic architecture, and it is the considered the most known and largest church buildings in the world. The architectural style was strongly impacted by naturalism and was realized through the stained glass and sculptures, which can be seen in the Notre Dame contrasting the Romanesque architectural background. The arched exterior supports known as flying buttresses were implemented for the first time in the Notre Dame in Paris. At the beginning, when the monument was only being built, it did not involve flying buttresses in the design, but within the time they were implemented around the choir and the nave.

At the same time, the Notre Dame Cathedral involves messy greatness that is typical for the Gothic style. The ornaments are rich rather than elegant and interior is striking more because of the immense size than the proportional beauty. Nonetheless, the Notre Dame Cathedral leaves a deep impression on the beholders minds through its tower size and the stupendous height that allows it to tower above all other surrounding buildings. The Notre Dame Cathedral is the colossal monument of its generation both in the height and in the length perspectives. The ornaments and heavy proportions are ignored because of the effect their magnitude produces.

The Notre Dame Cathedral has a long history. The Paris Bishop Maurice de Sully decided to begin the Notre Dame building in 1160. He deemed the church, which was located at that place, unsuitable for his prestige level. Actual construction began within a few years when the stone foundation finished in 1163. Construction continued for many years, and a great number of architects and bishops were involved in the prolonged construction process. Due to the fact that many people were involved in the building and design process, the cathedral has a varied and unique design. In 1345, the cathedral construction was finished. At the cathedral, many organs were implemented as centerpieces over the years after the Notre Dame construction. These five bells gained worldwide fame.

Nonetheless, the Notre Dame has a great meaning not only from the cultural and historical perspectives. This cathedral is the brightest representation of the power of Catholic religion. Therefore, religious art provides a visual expression of inner beliefs, and it has the ability to raise the spirit above the daily problems. For centuries, people managed to create special places to worship with the help of art. Such churches or temples are developed to convey specific religious messages and spiritual values. These places of devotion often share certain magical qualities with prehistoric caves. Both religious and magical art expresses human belief in the spiritual world. A good example of this is the Gothic cathedral of Notre Dame because it is a bright expression of Christian faith of the medieval era.

Therefore, the Notre Dame cathedral with its soaring vertical lines seems to lift the soul toward heavens to God. The Cathedral represents many Bible verses and stories when it comes to paintings, stained glass, and the portal due to the fact that the work was finished in the age lacking in common literacy. Virgin Mary that suffered a great sorrow plays the main role in the cathedral. She had great popular appeal and became the crucial intercessor figure standing before Christ the judge and pleading for the leniency for erring humanity. In the Gothic style of Notre Dame, work scenes are more appealing to the viewer’s empathic identification with theological truths than he abstractly conceptual representations of the same spiritual issues. Therefore, the heavenly realm is symbolized from the visual perspective as the viewer’s eye follows the Gothic arches and soaring lines to the pointed vaults at the top top and into the space bathed in colored lights. Hence, through the Notre Dame, it is possible to experience the power of art to transform the physical act of viewing into a worshiping spiritual act.

Moreover, the Notre Dame Cathedral represents the power of Catholic religion. Starting from the 10th century the monastic reform movement began and by 1100 it strongly supported the central church authority. Therefore, the enhanced role of the church was seen in the strong flow of architectural activity with cathedrals and abbeys appearing everywhere during the 12th-16th centuries. By this time, the power and resources of Rome were significant. The Notre Dame Cathedral is a visual representation of the power of Catholic religion, its impact and wealth that are expressed through the buildings parameters and inner decorations.

It is believed that such power of Catholic church existed in the medieval past up to the French Revolution. Then, the religious impact of the Notre Dame Cathedral was destroyed, just as that of other churches. However, despite the difficult times, this cathedral gained its religious meaning again. Hence, before the French Revolution, France was a strictly Catholic nation. The Catholic church was the greatest landowner, and it provided the Church with significant revenues in the form of tenants that lived on the land and tax collection. Therefore, the Church provided all crucial social services that were required by most of the French rural population. During the time, it amounted to the great majority of the whole population. With such great power came corruption. People realized that the power of the Church came from taxation. They realized that most of the clergy are corrupt and aimed to keep people in their places. Hence, by the end of the 18th-century, people became religiously apathetic and started to hate and ridicule the monarchy. As a result, this hate transformed into the French Revolution in 1789, during which the monarchy was overthrown and the Church taxing power revoked.

Additionally, the atheistic belief became popular in France in opposition to the Roman Catholic Church. It turned into an official government doctrine in 1792 when the First French Republic was declared. It was named the Cult of Reason. The main goal was the perfection of mankind through the human capacity for reason. The abstract Reason replaced the God. The new Faith was enforced all across France. All church lands were confiscated and returned to the Republic; their bells and crosses were destroyed. The people who refused to accept the new faith were killed. All churches throughout France, inclding Notre Dame, became the Temples of Reason. Christian paintings and statues were removed from the Notre Dame Cathedral and sold to provide financing to the revolution. The Virgin Many statues were removed and then replaced by the Goddess of Reason in 1793. At the same time, the Judah biblical kings statues were beheaded. Nonetheless, the Notre Dame Cathedral's bells managed to avoid the destruction and survived that period. After some time, other cults were established, particularly the Cult of the Supreme Being. That faith was based on the belief in the existence of God and the immortality of human soul. Reason was understood as the means to an end. However, with the fall of Robespierre in 1794, his new cult lost its impact and was officially banned by Napoleon Bonaparte.

In general, the French dechristianization period lasted until the Concordat signing by Napoleon Bonaparte and Pope Pius VII in 1801. It provided Roman Catholicism with the ability to participate in France. However, all previous clerical lands were directed under French State ownership. Therefore, in these conditions, the Notre Dame Cathedral that became a warehouse for food storage was renovated, and religious relics were restored to the church. Napoleon was crowned as the Emperor of France in the Notre Dame Cathedral.

Therefore, the Notre Dame experienced significant violence and ruination that caused religious images to be damaged and destroyed in Paris in the 1970s during the French Revolution. Nonetheless, in the 19th century the cathedral went through restoration plans and was returned to its previous magnificent state. In turn, the Catholic religion gained the power and impact again, because no other faiths managed to capture people’s minds. As a result, the Notre Dame Cathedral managed to once again become the representation of the power of Catholic religion as it has been through the centuries despite all the challenges. Even when people destroyed religion, the powerful churches such as Notre Dame de Paris saved the Catholic religious meaning and power.

Overall, the Notre Dame Cathedral is highly significant because it is an architectural, cultural, archaeological, historical, and religious monument. This monument is the brightest example of Gothic architecture of the medieval period. It is the most known cultural object in the world due to own unique style, greatness, and impressive design. This cathedral experienced difficult times, but managed to recover its glory. Nonetheless, the Notre Dame Cathedral is not only a crucial cultural and historical object, it is also a critical object for Christianity. In particular, religion managed to represent people’s inner beliefs in order to save their faith through art. Therefore, the Notre Dame Cathedral is a visual expression of the power of Catholic religion that was preserved through the centuries and managed to gain worldwide fame due to its greatness and glory.

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