Notre Dame Cathedral - Facts for Kids

Basic Information and History

Notre Dame Cathedral stands proudly in the heart of Paris, France, on a small island in the Seine River called Île de la Cité — imagine a magnificent church on its very own island!

Construction of Notre Dame Cathedral began way back in 1163, which means the first stones were laid about 860 years ago — that’s older than any building you’ve probably ever seen!

It took nearly 200 years to build Notre Dame Cathedral – that's like starting to build something when your great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandparents were alive and not finishing until their great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren were grown up!

Notre Dame Cathedral became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991, which means it's so special that the whole world works together to protect it!

Notre Dame Cathedral's full name is "Notre-Dame de Paris," which means "Our Lady of Paris" in French – it's named after Mary, the mother of Jesus!

The famous gargoyles on Notre Dame Cathedral aren't just decorations – they're actually fancy rainspouts that help protect the building from rain damage!

Nearly 13 million people visited Notre Dame Cathedral each year before the 2019 fire!

Notre Dame Cathedral survived the French Revolution, two World Wars, and a massive fire in 2019!

Architecture and Design

Notre Dame Cathedral's twin towers reach 226 feet high – that's about as tall as a 20-story building!

The builders of Notre Dame Cathedral used flying buttresses – imagine giant stone arms holding up the walls from the outside!

Notre Dame Cathedral's Great Organ has nearly 8,000 pipes!

Notre‑Dame rings out with 10 big bells — and the biggest one, Emmanuel, is so heavy it weighs about 13 tons!

The builders used wooden beams from over 1,300 oak trees to make Notre Dame Cathedral's roof – they called it "The Forest" because it used so many trees!

Notre Dame Cathedral's famous chimeras (scary-looking statues) were added in the 1800s during a big renovation – they're like guardians watching over Paris!

Special Features and Treasures

Notre Dame Cathedral has a special marker called "Point Zero" in front of it – all distances in France are measured from this spot, making it the center of the country!

When Notre Dame caught fire in 2019, brave firefighters and church friends formed a human chain to rescue its most precious treasure — the Crown of Thorns — carrying it out through smoke and flames to keep it safe.

Little bees lived high on Notre Dame’s roof — hundreds of thousands of them in wooden hives — and even when fire swept the top of the cathedral in 2019, the bees survived!

Notre Dame Cathedral has 28 statues of kings on its front – for many years, people thought they were French kings, but they're actually kings from the Bible!

NNotre‑Dame de Paris have a wooden carving inside that shows scenes from the life of Jesus.

There's a special treasury room in Notre Dame Cathedral that holds precious objects, including ancient crowns and golden crosses!

Notre Dame Cathedral's famous rose windows are made of thousands of pieces of colored glass – like giant puzzles that tell stories!

Historical Events and Famous Visitors

In 1804, Napoleon became Emperor at Notre Dame — and in a bold move, he grabbed the crown from the Pope’s hands and placed it on his own head, crowning himself right there in front of the altar!

More than 20 years after Joan died, her mom and brothers marched into Notre‑Dame and asked judges for justice — and in 1456 the court declared Joan innocent.

Notre Dame Cathedral was turned into a food warehouse during the French Revolution – imagine storing groceries in such a grand building!

Victor Hugo wrote "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" in 1831 to help save Notre Dame Cathedral from being torn down – his book worked!

The limestone used to build Notre Dame Cathedral came from underground quarries near Paris – like mining for building blocks!

Notre Dame’s spire was made of 500 tons of oak wood and 250 tons of lead.

The stained glass windows in Notre Dame Cathedral tell stories from the Bible using pictures – like ancient comic books made of glass!

Notre Dame Cathedral's doors have beautiful iron decorations that were made by medieval blacksmiths!

Notre Dame Cathedral's paintings and sculptures were painted in bright colors – though most have faded now, they were once as colorful as a rainbow!