The Cathedral in 1699
The church restored by Viollet-le-Duc (1860s)
4th century – Cathedral of Saint Étienne, dedicated to Saint Stephen, built just west of present cathedral[16]
- 1163 – Bishop Maurice de Sully begins construction of new cathedral.[16]
- 1182 or 1185 – Choir completed, clerestory with two levels: upper level of upright windows with pointed arches, still without tracery, lower level of small rose windows.
- c. 1200 – Construction of nave, with flying buttresses, completed.
- c. 1210–1220 – Construction of towers begins.
- c. 1210–1220 – Two new traverses join towers with nave. West rose window complete in 1220.
- After 1220 – New flying buttresses added to choir walls, remodeling of the clerestories: pointed arched windows are enlarged downward, replacing the triforia, and get tracery.
- 1235–1245 – Chapels constructed between buttresses of nave and choir.
- 1250–1260 – North transept lengthened by Jean de Chelles to provide more light. North rose window constructed.[17]
- 1270 – South transept and rose window completed by Pierre de Montreuil.[18]
- 1699 – Beginning of major redecoration of interior in Louis XIV style by Hardouin Mansart and Robert de Cotte.[19]
- 1725–1727 – South rose window, poorly built, is reconstructed. Later entirely rebuilt in 1854.
- 1790 – In the French Revolution the Revolutionary Paris Commune removes all bronze, lead, and precious metals from the cathedral to be melted down.[18]
- 1793 – The cathedral is converted into a Temple of Reason and then Temple of the Supreme Being.
- 1801–1802 – With the Concordat of 1801, Napoleon restores the use of the cathedral (though not ownership) to the Catholic Church.
- 1804 – On 2 December, Napoleon crowns himself Emperor at Notre-Dame.
- 1844–1864 – Major restoration by Jean-Baptiste Lassus and Eugène Viollet-le-Duc with additions in the spirit of the original Gothic style.[20]
- 1871 – In final days of the Paris Commune, the Communards prepared to burn the cathedral, but abandoned their plan since it would necessarily also burn the crowded neighboring hospital for the elderly.
- 1944 – On 26 August, General Charles de Gaulle celebrates the Liberation of Paris with a special Mass at Notre-Dame.
- 1963 – Culture Minister André Malraux begins the cleaning of centuries of grime and soot from the cathedral façade.
- 2019 – On 15 April, a fire destroys a large part of the roof and the flèche.
- 2021 – Reconstruction begins, which lasted 3 years.
- 2024 – Reopening ceremonies 7–8 December.[21] On 13 December 2024 the revered Crown of Thorns relic was returned to the cathedral.[22]
