Notre-Dame de Paris

History

Construction began in 1163 under Bishop Maurice de Sully, who wanted a cathedral large enough for Paris's growing population, replacing an older Romanesque church on the same site. Building continued for close to two centuries, with the west facade and towers completed around 1250 and the flying buttresses and later Gothic details added through the 14th century. The result mixed early and high Gothic styles from the different generations of builders who worked on it.

Over the centuries, Notre-Dame hosted coronations and the canonization of saints, and stood as the backdrop for major turning points in French history. The cathedral was heavily damaged during the French Revolution, when much of its statuary was destroyed and it was repurposed as a Temple of Reason. It fell into serious disrepair afterward, and it took Victor Hugo's 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, written partly to draw attention to the building's condition, to spark public support for a restoration. Architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc led that 19th-century restoration, adding the spire that would later burn in 2019 along with the row of gargoyles now closely associated with the building.

On 15 April 2019, a fire broke out in the roof structure known as "the Forest," a network of medieval oak beams, and spread rapidly. The spire collapsed within hours, taking part of the stone vault down with it. Paris firefighters worked for hours to bring the blaze under control, ultimately saving the cathedral's two main towers and its overall structure; no one died in the fire, though one firefighter was injured. Over 900 million euros in donations were pledged worldwide within a single day of the fire.

Exactly three months after the fire, the French Parliament voted that the cathedral would be rebuilt completely and faithfully to its pre-fire state, rather than redesigned. The original plan called for restoring Notre-Dame within five years, a timeline that in the end held almost exactly: reconstruction faithfully rebuilt the roof and spire using traditional techniques, including oak beams shaped with hand tools rather than modern machinery, and Notre-Dame reopened to the public on 7 December 2024, five and a half years after the fire. The bell towers, assessed and restored separately, reopened on 20 September 2025 with a new visitor route.

Opening Hours & Wait Times

The cathedral is open every day. Hours differ slightly by day of the week, and the nave closes to sightseeing (not to worshippers) during Mass.

With around 14 million visitors a year, Notre-Dame is one of the busiest sights in Paris, and walk-in waits during peak season can run 30 minutes to 3 hours. A free timed-entry slot, booked on the official website, is optional but strongly recommended from April to October; it isn't mandatory, and walk-ins are always accepted, but it noticeably cuts the wait at busier times of day. Booking windows typically open only a few days ahead rather than weeks in advance. In low season (November to March), waits are usually short, often 5 to 20 minutes.

Weekday mornings right at opening, or the hour before closing, are consistently the calmest times to visit.

Tickets & Prices

Entry to the cathedral's main nave is free for everyone, with no ticket required. Any website charging for basic entry to the cathedral is not legitimate. Three separate paid experiences exist within the wider Notre-Dame complex, each with its own ticket, hours, and booking system.

The bell towers are managed separately from the cathedral by the Centre des Monuments Nationaux, and tickets are sold exclusively online through their own booking site; there's no on-site ticket counter and no way to buy same-day at the door. Booking slots open roughly 72 hours ahead of a visit date, so this isn't something you can plan far in advance. Free admission for eligible visitors still requires booking a slot and presenting proof.

The treasury is paid on-site only, at the entrance to the treasury area inside the cathedral, with no online booking option. The archaeological crypt sits underground outside the cathedral itself, on the square in front of it, and can be booked online or paid for on-site.

Guided Tours

Guided tours aren't permitted inside the cathedral on Sundays, Saturday afternoons, or religious feast days, so check availability for your date before booking. On other days, a guide covering the exterior architecture and interior highlights adds context that the free self-guided visit doesn't, particularly around the restoration itself and what changed in the rebuild.

Some third-party tours bundle Notre-Dame with the nearby Sainte-Chapelle and Conciergerie, both worth seeing on the same island, or add entry to the treasury or crypt as part of a single guided visit.

Getting There

Notre-Dame sits on the Île de la Cité in the middle of the Seine, in the historic heart of Paris, and is easy to reach by several different means of transport.

The cathedral's central location also makes it an easy walk or bike ride from most of central Paris, and there are numerous bike parking spots in the immediate area.

Give yourself extra time beyond the visit itself, since the cathedral sits in one of the most historic and picturesque parts of the city, well worth a slower walk around before or after you go in.

Address: 6 Parvis Notre-Dame – Place Jean-Paul II, 75004 Paris, France

Highlights of Notre-Dame

Good to Know

The bell towers involve 424 steps with no elevator, up a stone spiral staircase that narrows to as little as 45 centimeters in places, plus the new wooden double-helix staircase along part of the route, the largest of its kind in the world. From the top, 69 meters up, you get a close-up view of the gargoyles and a 360-degree panorama over Paris, but the climb rules out anyone with mobility issues or significant claustrophobia.

The cathedral's Great Organ, originally built in the 18th century and expanded since, has over 8,000 pipes and is one of the largest and oldest instruments in France; it was fully cleaned and restored as part of the post-fire reconstruction and is played during Sunday's solemn Mass.

Weekday Masses are held at 8:00 AM, 9:00 AM, 12:15 PM, and 6:15 PM, with Sunday Masses at 8:30 AM, 10:00 AM, 11:30 AM, 12:45 PM, and 6:30 PM, plus a Saturday evening Mass at 6:30 PM. Sightseeing access to the nave pauses during these services, so plan around them if your main goal is to see the interior rather than attend Mass.

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Frequently Asked Questions