Front facade by Benh Lieu Song

When you are leaving for vacations, you better leave your faith in your closet at home otherwise there is a serious chance of missing a lot of culture and history. When I was visiting Basilica of Sacred heart in Paris I met an Indian Muslim family outside while we were enjoying live music at the stairs of the Basilica played by some local band, while I intended to go inside I asked them too to come inside but they politely refused and told me that it is against their faith to enter the church.I respected their insecurities and went in. You are free to believe and practice whatever makes you comfortable

I am going to get you to the famous Notre-Dame de Paris. There are hence many different attributes to the cathedral, it is impossible to describe them all, but it is notable for it’s organ, stained glasses, figures, paintings, sculptures. Notre Dame de Paris got more famous by Victor Hugo’s 1831 Gothic novel and subsequent films The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The Hunchback of Notre-Dame is a French Gothic novel by Victor Hugo, published in 1831.

 

 

Situated on the Right Bank of the River Seine, Notre-Dame de Paris, also known as Notre-Dame Cathedral, is a medieval Catholic Cathedral on the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris. The Île de la Cité is one of two remaining natural islands in the Seine within the city of Paris. It is the heart of Paris.The 4th arrondissement of Paris is one of the 20 arrondissements (administrative districts.

Cornerstone laid for Notre-Dame de Paris in 1163. The Notre-Dame de Paris was among the first buildings in the world to use the flying buttress. Flying buttress is that it is not in contact with the wall it supports. The flying buttress was built up during late antiquity and later flourished during the Gothic period (12th–16th c.) of architecture. Ancient examples of the flying buttress can be ground in the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna. The architectural-element precursors of the medieval flying buttress derive from Byzantine architecture.

Organ Notre-Dame by Eric Chan

The organ has 7,952 pipes. It has 110 real stops, five 56-key manuals and a 32-key pedalboard.

The cathedral has 10 bells. The largest, Emmanuel, original to 1681, is located in the south tower and weighs just over 13 tons

In 1548, rioting Huguenots damaged features of Notre-Dame, considering them idolatrous
The Second World War caused more damage. Several of the stained glass windows on the lower tier were hit by stray bullets.

In the 1790s, Notre-Dame suffered desecration in the radical phase of the French Revolution when much of its religious imagery was damaged or destroyed.
I would strongly recommend a visit to the Cathedral, whether you are religious or not.