Notre-Dame de Paris

Notre-Dame is a very old church in Paris, a big city in France.

It stands on an island in a river. It is made of pale stone. It has two tall towers and big round windows. People come to pray there, and visitors come to look.

Notre-Dame de Paris stands at the eastern end of the Île de la Cité, an island in the Seine River in the middle of Paris. It is a cathedral: the main church of the archbishop of Paris, and a Catholic place of worship.

It is built of stone in the Gothic style, with two towers 68 meters tall and three great round windows called rose windows. Building began in 1163. In 2019 a fire destroyed most of its roof, and after five years of repairs it opened again in December 2024. Its managers say more than 11 million visitors came in its first year back.

Notre-Dame, the cathedral church of Paris, occupies the eastern end of the Île de la Cité. Britannica (2026) calls it the most famous of the Gothic cathedrals of the Middle Ages, notable for its size, age and architecture. UNESCO lists it within "Paris, Banks of the Seine" (1991), noting that Notre-Dame and the Sainte-Chapelle became a source for the spread of Gothic architecture.

It remains a working Catholic cathedral, and entry for visitors is free. The interior measures 130 by 48 m (427 by 157 ft) in plan, and the western towers rise to 68 m. On April 15, 2019, a fire in the attic destroyed most of the roof, the 19th-century spire and part of the rib vaulting. The building reopened with ceremonies on December 7 and 8, 2024, and a year later its managers reported more than 11 million visitors (December 2025).

The front of Notre-Dame has three big doors.

Above them is a long row of stone kings. Then comes a big round window. Two tall towers stand on top. Stone arms on the outside help hold up the walls.

The front of the cathedral has three levels. At the bottom are three doorways covered in carvings. Above them stands a long row of statues of kings, then a great round rose window. Two massive towers crown the front. Spires were planned for their tops, but they were never added.

Around the outside, stone arches called flying buttresses lean against the walls. They support the walls, and the Friends of Notre-Dame say they let the columns inside soar to new heights. The three rose windows still have glass from the 1200s. On top of the roof, a new spire rises to about 96 meters, with a golden cockerel at its tip.

The plan has a choir and apse, a short transept, and a nave flanked by double aisles and square chapels; inside it measures 130 by 48 m, under a roof 35 m high. The western facade is divided into three stories: portals with fine early Gothic carving, a row of figures of Old Testament kings, the rose window, and the two towers of 1210 to 1250, whose intended spires were never built.

At the east end, the apse, with large clerestory windows added in 1235 to 1270, is supported by single-arch flying buttresses in the Rayonnant Gothic style, which Britannica singles out for their boldness and grace. The three great rose windows alone keep their 13th-century glass. The central spire is Viollet-le-Duc's design, which replaced a medieval spire removed in the 18th century because it was unstable; rebuilt after 2019, it was crowned with its cockerel on December 16, 2023, about 96 m above the ground. Its 16 copper statues of apostles and evangelists survived the fire because they had just been taken away for restoration.

Today, Notre-Dame is open again.

People come to pray and to look around. Visiting is free. The stone inside looks clean and bright.

Notre-Dame reopened with special ceremonies on December 7 and 8, 2024, and visitors came back from December 8. Entry is free. People come to attend services and to admire the cleaned, pale stone.

The rebuilt roof now hides a new fire protection system: thin pipes along the wooden frame that can spray a fog of tiny water droplets. Some work goes on, such as new stained-glass windows planned for six chapels by the end of 2026.

Rebâtir Notre-Dame de Paris, the public body in charge of the cathedral's conservation and restoration, says the work was made possible by 340,000 donors in France and around the world. The cathedral reopened with ceremonies on December 7 and 8, 2024, led by the archbishop of Paris, Laurent Ulrich, and attended by the French president; the high altar was consecrated on December 8. A year later its managers reported more than 11 million visitors (December 2025), and entry remains free.

A water-mist system now runs along the timber frame; the City of Paris says it can lower the temperature by 500 °C in a minute. Work continues: the City listed the chevet and sacristy for 2025, and Rebâtir expects contemporary stained-glass windows in six south-aisle chapels by the end of 2026. In September 2025 the scaffolding around the spire came down, revealing its restored copper statues.