Visiting the interior of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris

One of the most notable monuments in Paris (and in all of Europe for that matter) is the Notre Dame Cathedral. This Catholic treasure is over 800 years old. It is located on a small island called the Ile de la Cite in the middle of river Seine. The building of the cathedral was completed over the course of 200 years; it was started in 1163 during the reign of King Louis VII and was completed in 1345.

Even more impressive for me is the interior of the cathedral. It is 427 by 157 feet (130 by 48 metres) in plan, and the roof is 115 feet (35 metres) high. The cathedral’s three stained-glass rose windows are the interior’s outstanding feature. Two are found in the transept: the North rose window dates to the 13th century and is widely considered to be the most stunning. It depicts Old Testament figures surrounding the Virgin Mary. The South rose window, meanwhile, depicts the Christ surrounded by saints and angels. More modern stained glass, dating to as late as 1965, are also visible around the cathedral.

The only inconvenient I found was not being able to use my tripod to capture all the details of Notre Dame’s interior. As soon as I started mounting my tripod I was asked by the cathedral’s staff not to use it. This is very common among churches and cathedrals’ staff… I’m still unable to understand the reason behind this silly ban of tripods. Anyway, I’m happy that at least I was able to save this handheld shot :-)