Notre-Dame de Paris, Part 2: Exterior Features--and a Giveaway!

By Joan Hochstetler

View of Notre-Dame de Paris by Gilbert Bochenek (2011)

The Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris was in the news last month because of the fire that started on the evening of April 15, while the cathedral’s roof was being repaired. I became interested in the cathedral while doing research for my upcoming release, Refiner’s Fire, which is partially set in Paris. In my last post I covered the building’s history, and over the next couple of months I plan to highlight some of the marvelous details and treasures Notre Dame contains. Today I’m focusing on its exterior features.

Notre Dame is an imposing 420 ft. long, 157 ft. wide, and 115 ft. high, excluding the two massive towers at the main entrance on the western side. These are among its most recognizable features and were the last major part of the cathedral that was constructed. The south tower was built between 1220 and 1240 and houses the 13-ton Emmanuel bell. The north tower was built between 1235 and 1250 and at 226 ft. is slightly taller than the south tower as you can see in the image above. They remained the tallest structures in Paris until the Eiffel Tower was completed in 1889.

The Last Judgment, Central Portal
Carlos Delgado; CC-BY-SA

The three magnificent portals on the western façade were built in the 13th century. A significant amount of their carvings and statuary were demolished during the French Revolution but have been carefully duplicated. The left portal portrays the life of the Virgin
Mary. The central portal features a vertical triptych of the Last Judgment, displaying the resurrection of the dead, the judgment, Christ, and the apostles, with Christ reigning in the highest panel. The portal of Saint-Anne on the right side includes the oldest, most beautiful, and last surviving sculpture from the 12th century, showing the Virgin Mary sitting on a throne holding the Christ child. A gallery of 28 statues of the kings of Israel occupies the space above the portals. The west side also features a stunning rose window measuring 32.8 ft. in diameter, with images of Adam and Eve on the outer rim. The Grande Galerie that connects the two towers is adorned with images of demons and birds that can only be seen from above.

Chimera,  Jawed Karim (2014)

There are also impressive portals on the north and south façades. The one on the north features a magnificent 13th-century statue of the Virgin Mary. She used to hold the Christ child in her arms, but it also was destroyed during the French Revolution and never replaced. On the cathedral’s south side lavis sculptures adorn the Saint-Etienne Portal portraying the life and deeds of the saint. And from the cathedral’s rear at its east end one can see the exterior of the apse and the graceful flying buttresses that support its walls.

Panageotean Graphics,
derivative work Lämpel

The original spire was constructed in the 13th century and placed on the cathedral’s roof above the transept and altar. By 1786 it had become so weakened that it had to be removed. A new spire built of oak covered with lead and weighing 750 tons replaced it during the 19th-century restoration by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc. This one was surrounded by copper statues of the twelve apostles, with groups of 3 facing in each direction along with an animal symbolizing one of the four gospel writers: an angel for Matthew, a lion for Mark, a steer for Luke, and an eagle for John. The only statue that didn’t face outwards toward Paris was that of Thomas, the patron saint of architects; it faced the spire and had Viollet-le-Duc’s features. The spire was crowned by a rooster weather vane that contained a tiny piece from the Crown of Thorns and relics of Denis and Saint Genevieve, patron saints of Paris, placed there in 1935 by Archbishop Jean Verdier, to protect the congregation from lightning or other harm. This spire was destroyed in the April fire along with the roof itself, but by a stroke of luck the statues had been removed for restoration a few days before the fire. And miraculously, the rooster was found intact in the rubble left by the fire.

My post next month will take a closer look at the exquisite rose windows and other treasures of the cathedral. This month, since Refiner’s Fire officially publishes June 1, I’m giving away a copy—or for those who haven’t read all of the previous books of my American Patriot Series, your choice of any of the volumes! To enter the drawing, please leave a comment on this post answering the question below. And be sure to include your email address so I can contact you if you win. Because of the holiday, I’m extending the drawing through Tuesday. I’ll announce the winner in the comments here Wednesday morning, so be sure to check back!

QUESTION: What do you think of the ideas being proposed for the reconstruction of Notre Dame Cathedral? Should this historic building be restored to its former glory, or do you favor adding dramatic modern features as some experts advocate? Let’s hear your opinions and your reasons why!

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J. M. Hochstetler is the daughter of Mennonite farmers and a lifelong student of history. She is also an author, editor, and publisher. Her American Patriot Series is the only comprehensive historical fiction series on the American Revolution. Book 6, Refiner’s Fire, releases in April 2019. Northkill, Book 1 of the Northkill Amish Series coauthored with Bob Hostetler, won Foreword Magazine’s 2014 Indie Book of the Year Bronze Award for historical fiction. Book 2, The Return, received the 2017 Interviews and Reviews Silver Award for Historical Fiction and was named one of Shelf Unbound’s 2018 Notable Indie Books. One Holy Night, a contemporary retelling of the Christmas story, was the Christian Small Publishers 2009 Book of the Year and a finalist in the Carol Award.

The Eiffel Tower

A Footnote from History by Stephanie Grace Whitson

Once upon a time, an American teenager fell asleep on a tour bus in France. Nudged awake, she looked up to see the panorama of an unfamiliar city before her. Except for one thing. The Eiffel Tower loomed in the distance. It's real, the young American thought. Her dream had come true. She was in Paris. And she burst into tears at the realization. 

I was that American teen and it was 1971. Here I am (at right) the next day, taking in Paris from the lower deck of the Eiffel Tower. 

Whether you've been to France or not, chances are you recognize Gustave Eiffel's cast-iron monument. You may even have some version of it in your garden or a photo or poster hanging on a wall. My high school French teacher's desk featured a ridiculous little bronze Eiffel Tower with a thermometer attached to one side. I remember thinking it would make anyone's list of "stupidest souvenirs." Then again, that was years ago. Now I have my own Paris kitsch (and yes, I know it's awful but it's so awful I love it I mean, seriously ... a perfume bottle with colored water ... what's not to like LOL).   

Eiffel's design was selected from 107 proposals in 1887 to showcase the 1889 Universal Exposition in Paris (which celebrated the centennial of the French Revolution). 

I remember my French professor telling me it was essentially a giant Tinker Toy. What he meant was that all 15,000 metal parts were prefabricated and numbered for assembly, and most of the 2.5 million rivets were already in place before the tower went up. Three hundred steelworkers worked around-the-clock for twenty-six months. Without a single fatal accident, the world's tallest building (until 1931) was finished just one week before the exposition opened. 

Parisians have strong opinions about any new monument, and they greeted the Eiffel Tower with a mixture of horror, criticism, and public dismay. Author Guy de Maupassant took to dining on the second-floor Le Jules Verne restaurant so he wouldn't have to look at it. 

A formal protest published even before the tower was completed began, "We come, we writers, painters, sculptors, architects, lovers of the beauty of Paris ... to protest with all our strength and all our indignation ... in the name of French art and history under threat, against the erection in the very heart of our capital, of the useless and monstrous Eiffel Tower." Satirists called it names. "This truly tragic street lamp." "This hollow candlestick." "This belfry skeleton." "A disgusting column of bolts and sheet metal."

Regardless of the protests, the tower--initially intended to be temporary--was a resounding success. After Mr. Eiffel himself opened it, climbing the 1,710 steps to place the French flag at the top, the tower welcomed twelve thousand visitors a day. It's estimated that over 120 million have seen it since. 

In 2001, my children and I emerged from a Metro station at night to be delighted by a surprise view of the tower illuminated from within by modern lighting installed in the 1980s.

Some Eiffel Tower trivia:

• It never sways more than 2.5 inches.
• 60 tons of paint are used every seven years 
• From the viewing gallery, it's possible to get a distant view of Chartres Cathedral (45 miles away)--on a clear day.
• Gustave Eiffel designed the framework for our Statue of Liberty.
  

In 1971, one of my friends and I entered a tower elevator and braved a conversation in French with the elderly gentleman operator. My friend asked, "Do you dislike Americans?" The sweet old man pointed to a pin on the lapel of his suit coat (it designated him as a WWII veteran) and proceeded to tell us that he remembered the Americans marching into Paris as the victors in WW II. "I love Americans," he said, "they freed my country." 

What about you? Have you visited the Eiffel Tower? Do you own any Eiffel Tower kitsch? 

______________________

Stephanie Grace Whitson's novel A Garden in Paris introduces readers to Mary Davis, a widow who dares to believe "it is never too late to be what you might have been." 

The Kindle ebook is only  99 cents.www.amazon.com/Garden-Paris-Stephanie-Grace-Whitson-ebook/dp/B06Y1F93VW. The paperback is $12.99.

Paris is Stephanie's "favorite city in the world," and readers have said the city is almost a character in the book. If you've been there, A Garden in Paris will take you back. If you haven't ... beware. The story just might make you want to go.