Cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris
Notre-Dame is the catholic cathedral of Paris, it is incontestably one of the most important gothic achievements in France.
This chef d'oeuvre, one of the symbols of the French capital, is located at the end of the Île de la Cité (Island of the City), historical center. A bronze plate encrusted on the ground represents the item zero for all the distances of roads starting from Paris.
As the construction extended over many decades, the style is not totally uniform; with thus of the characters of the primitive Gothic (six parts of the nave) and Ray Gothic: for example the heart.
The rosette of the southern is one of largest in Europe, with 12 meters diameter.
The first cathedral of Paris would date from second half of IVth century. It was in the west of current construction; with columns of marble which separated five naves and it was decorated with mosaics. The presence of a baptistry is attested before 451.
The construction, started under the reign of Louis VII by the bishop Maurice de Sully, from 1163 to 1345, where Paris was in the archbishop of Sens.
Notre-Dame of Paris is with more than 12 million visitors in 2005, the monument of France and perhaps of Europe most visited, before the Eiffel Tower.