Aerial photograph of Notre-Dame, made by Stéphane Compoint
Twelve months, neither one more nor one less, have been necessary to obtain the permits that have allowed Stephane Compoint get photos from incredible perspectives of Notre-Dame de Paris . This image tightrope walker gives us unique and extraordinary perspectives that have helped us reveal the secrets and unusual stories of the most famous cathedral in the world:
1) A very religious location: Thanks to the excavated archaeological sites, we know that in the same place where Notre-Dame stands today Two other churches existed before. : The first Christian place of worship in Paris, the Saint Etienne church, was erected here. Later, to replace this work, the Romanesque church of San Esteban arose. In 1160 Bishop Maurice de Sully, who aspired to consolidate the power of the church through a great monument, had the church of Saint Stephen demolished. In 1163 the construction of the current cathedral began, in the early Gothic style, whose work will be completed in 1345. The cathedral was consecrated to the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ. Have 130 meters long, 48 meters wide and a total height of 70 meters.
2) The home of the hunchback Quasimodo: In 1831, the writer Victor Hugo published his work Notre-Dame de Paris, the moving story set in the fifteenth century of the hunchback Quasimodo, in charge of ringing the bells of the cathedral and madly in love with the gypsy Esmeralda. In the 90s, Disney made a version of the Victor Hugo classic, giving it the happy ending that the French writer did not want (or could not) give him.
3) Some new bells for the cathedral: next March 23, the tolling of the bells of Notre-Dame will ring in a different way. Eight new bells, which replace the previous ones, from 1856, have been installed in the north tower of the cathedral and promise to return to Parisians the same sonorous harmony that existed in the 13th and 14th centuries. A group of musicologists and campanologists (no, I didn't know this specialty existed either) has achieved, after years of research recreate the same atmosphere of the centuries of splendor of the Paris cathedral . The new bells have been manufactured in Holland faithfully following the traditional casting process in which elements such as clay or goat hair have been used. And if you're wondering what the damned (pun intended) bells sound like, don't get nervous, you can listen to them right now here. Nice, right?
Image of the famous gargoyles of the Cathedral
4)Notre-Dame, historical setting: On December 2, 1804 Napoleon Bonaparte and his wife Josephine de Beauharnais were crowned Emperor and Empress of France respectively, in the presence of Pope Pius VII. In 1909, Joan of Arc is beatified. On August 26, 1944, after the liberation of Paris from the Nazis, Charles de Gaulle paraded in front of the temple before beginning his triumphal walk down the Champs-Elysées.
5) Point Zero of French roads: In the cathedral square, a few meters from the entrance, there is a bronze plaque embedded in the ground, similar to a compass rose. It is kilometer zero, from which The distance from any point in France to Paris is measured.
6) The Legend of the Devil's Gates: Like all the cathedrals of the Middle Ages, Notre-Dame is shrouded in mysteries and secrets. One of the best-known stories is that of the young locksmith apprentice Biscornet, who was commissioned in the 13th century to design the side doors of the cathedral, the so-called Santa Ana door. Overwhelmed by the difficult task, one night of despair, They say that the young man made a pact with the devil for his soul in exchange for finishing the forged of the doors and be promoted to master locksmith just as he dreamed.
The next morning, Biscornet was found asleep under the doors with the work finished. The work was worthy of all the praise of the guild, which grants him the dream status of "Maître". However, the locksmith could not find peace, tormented by nightmares in which the devil insists on claiming the agreed tribute. Finally, they found him dead in his bed under mysterious circumstances . Who was really the architect of the Puertas de Santa Ana? The truth is that the work of the young locksmith involves several mysteries: a strange devil's head appeared on the original forging and the extraordinary quality of the relief seems hardly attributable to a simple apprentice. In 1860 Viollet-le-Duc had Biscornet's work replaced. Perhaps out of fear of the devil?
7) The oldest photo of the cathedral: dates from 1842, and was made on the occasion of the funeral of the Duke of Orleans. Here you can see it.
8) The cathedral of miracles. The father of the future "Luis Sol" was a man tormented for years by the inability to conceive a son with his wife. The story goes that in a desperate attempt, the sovereign, nicknamed "The Just" by his subjects, went to Notre-Dame Cathedral to ask the Virgin for a descendant. In 1638 and after 23 years of marriage, Louis-Dieudonné was born, who would be called "the miracle child" and who would succeed his father as Louis XIV.
9)Rosettes that adorn each arm of the transept, are among the largest in Europe with a diameter of 13 meters each.
10) Some 20 million people visited Notre-Dame Cathedral in 2012 : It is one of the most visited religious monuments in the world and although there is no unanimity in the sources consulted, the famous cathedral would be approximately in fifth place in the select ranking.