Notre-Dame Cathedral

Construction of Notre-Dame began in 1163 under Bishop Maurice de Sully and continued for nearly two centuries, producing one of the defining works of French Gothic architecture: flying buttresses, twin west towers, a rose window over 12 metres across, and a spire added in the 19th-century restoration led by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, who rebuilt much of the cathedral's decayed stonework and added the spire that would later collapse in dramatic fashion.

On 15 April 2019, a fire broke out during restoration work and destroyed the spire and most of the wooden roof structure (nicknamed 'the forest' for its ancient oak beams), threatening the entire building before firefighters managed to save the twin towers and main structure. President Macron pledged to rebuild within five years — an ambitious target that was, remarkably, met: the cathedral reopened to the public on 7–8 December 2024, its interior fully restored, stonework cleaned to reveal a far lighter original colour than most visitors remembered, and the rose windows repaired.