THE CATHEDRAL OF NOTRE DAME
This magnificent church was begun May 6, 1211, the foundation stone being laid on that date on the site of an earlier edifice burned in 1210. The work was pushed so rapidly that the choir was completed and occupied September 7, 1241. The architect was Jean d'Orbais, to whom the initial conception is due, and who continued in charge to 1231. He was succeeded by Jean Le Loup (1231-1247), who completed the choir and about 1240 undertook the façade of the north transept. Gaucher de Reims (1247-1255) apparently began the west portals towards 1255, before the nave was completed. Bernard de Soissons (1255-1290) built the five west bays of the nave and the great west rose window. He was succeeded by Robert de Coucy, who died in 1311, to whom is attributed the towers and the upper parts of the west front. The roof and upper parts of the cathedral were heavily damaged by fire in 1481, but repairs were speedily carried out. Restored several times in the nineteenth century, new restorations were in progress until the time of the first bombardment.
The cathedral is a vast and splendid church, with a nave of nine bays, transepts with aisles, and a rather short choir, surrounded with five chapels. There are no nave chapels. The decorations are of great magnificence, the external sculptures, especially those of the great west portals and the portals of the north transept, being most elaborate, and including some of the finest mediæval sculptures in France. The interior is noted for the arcaded screen applied to the west end of the nave, surrounding the central doorway, consisting of a series of niches with statues. The foliated capitals of the nave piers also deserve mention. The glass of the windows, which suffered some unfortunate changes in the XVIII century, was of extraordinary beauty and interest, and ranked among the finest in France; most of it was destroyed in the bombardment. The cathedral had a superb collection of tapestries, fortunately removed to Paris before the fire. The Treasury of the cathedral contained many rare and beautiful objects.
Notwithstanding the numerous and heavy bombardments to which the cathedral has been subjected, the statue of Jeanne d'Arc by Paul Dubois, erected in the open space before the cathedral (Place du Parvis) in 1896, has not yet been touched by shells. The sculpture of the west front and of other exposed parts were heavily protected by sand bags immediately after the first bombardment.