Five Things to Know about Notre Dame Cathedral
2024-12-05
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1Notre Dame Cathedral in the French capital of Paris is set to reopen to the public Sunday after a five-year-long rebuilding project.
2The Cathedral had been badly damaged in a fire in 2019.
3The Roman Catholic religious center is considered a jewel of Gothic building design, a symbol of Paris and is a popular site to visit.
4The cathedral took 182 years to build between the 12th and 14th centuries.
5It holds some surprising stories.
6Here are five special things to know about this famous Parisian site:
7In front of the cathedral, a metal and stone marker in the road describes the place as the "starting point of the roads of France.''
8This sign marks the starting point for measuring distances between Paris and other cities across the country.
9The marker was placed in 1924, but the idea of the cathedral as the center of the nation dates to 1769.
10King Louis XV thought there should be a central site for France's growing system of roads.
11That idea tied the nation's geography to its heart in Paris.
12Those frightening stone statues on Notre Dame might seem ancient, but not all of them are what they appear.
13The gargoyles are monster-shaped elements used to direct rainwater away from the building.
14They have been around since the time of the cathedral's construction.
15But the monster-like creatures often seen in photos and movies are chimera, and they are much newer.
16In 1841, the French government asked the architects Eugène Viollet-le-Duc and Jean-Baptiste Lassus to repair the then-collapsing building.
17Viollet-le-Duc added these frightening-looking statues to make the cathedral seem more mysterious.
18He drew ideas for the chimera from Victor Hugo's famous book The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
19How to tell them apart? Gargoyles resemble horizontal spikes coming out of the facade and have spouts to permit rainwater to flow out.
20During the French Revolution, there were protests of religious centers.
21In 1793, revolutionaries took away the cathedral's religious symbols and renamed it "Notre-Dame de la Raison," or, in English, "Our Lady of Reason."
22During that time, the cathedral held events celebrating science and new ideas and, for a short time, it was even used to store the alcoholic drink called wine.
23Religious services started again in 1795 under the rule of Napoleon I.
24In 1792, revolutionaries also cut the heads off 28 statues from the front of Notre Dame, thinking the statues were of French royalty.
25They were really representations of ancient kings of Judah, from stories in the Bible, the Christian holy book.
26The heads were thought lost forever.
27But in 1977, workers working in a courtyard in Paris uncovered hundreds of pieces of stone sculptures.
28Experts confirmed they were the missing heads of Notre Dame's kings of Judah statues.
29Today, 22 of the heads have been repaired and are shown at the Cluny Museum in Paris.
30The 2019 fire that almost destroyed Notre Dame caused a serious health risk.
31When the flames melted the top of the building, large amounts of harmful lead dust were released into the air and came down across Paris.
32Officials found there were no rules to measure the danger of outdoor lead dust.
33This was not just a Paris issue - major cities like London and Rome, and even the World Health Organization - do not have guidelines for outdoor lead pollution.
34The Notre Dame fire forced officials to take a closer look at their safety standards.
35It took four months for the city to complete an extensive cleaning of the city's streets even as visitors and the citizens of Paris walked around the cathedral every day.
36Now that you know these five things, you can enjoy seeing the photos of the new Notre Dame when it opens to the public.
37I'm Caty Weaver.
1Notre Dame Cathedral in the French capital of Paris is set to reopen to the public Sunday after a five-year-long rebuilding project. The Cathedral had been badly damaged in a fire in 2019. 2The Roman Catholic religious center is considered a jewel of Gothic building design, a symbol of Paris and is a popular site to visit. 3The cathedral took 182 years to build between the 12th and 14th centuries. It holds some surprising stories. Here are five special things to know about this famous Parisian site: 4The cathedral is considered France's geographic center. 5In front of the cathedral, a metal and stone marker in the road describes the place as the "starting point of the roads of France.'' This sign marks the starting point for measuring distances between Paris and other cities across the country. 6The marker was placed in 1924, but the idea of the cathedral as the center of the nation dates to 1769. King Louis XV thought there should be a central site for France's growing system of roads. That idea tied the nation's geography to its heart in Paris. 7Its famous statues were added in the 19th century 8Those frightening stone statues on Notre Dame might seem ancient, but not all of them are what they appear. The gargoyles are monster-shaped elements used to direct rainwater away from the building. They have been around since the time of the cathedral's construction. But the monster-like creatures often seen in photos and movies are chimera, and they are much newer. 9In 1841, the French government asked the architects Eugène Viollet-le-Duc and Jean-Baptiste Lassus to repair the then-collapsing building. Viollet-le-Duc added these frightening-looking statues to make the cathedral seem more mysterious. He drew ideas for the chimera from Victor Hugo's famous book The Hunchback of Notre Dame. 10How to tell them apart? Gargoyles resemble horizontal spikes coming out of the facade and have spouts to permit rainwater to flow out. 11During the French Revolution, protesters changed Notre Dame. 12During the French Revolution, there were protests of religious centers. 13In 1793, revolutionaries took away the cathedral's religious symbols and renamed it "Notre-Dame de la Raison," or, in English, "Our Lady of Reason." 14During that time, the cathedral held events celebrating science and new ideas and, for a short time, it was even used to store the alcoholic drink called wine. 15Religious services started again in 1795 under the rule of Napoleon I. 16Statues without heads were found and repaired. 17In 1792, revolutionaries also cut the heads off 28 statues from the front of Notre Dame, thinking the statues were of French royalty. They were really representations of ancient kings of Judah, from stories in the Bible, the Christian holy book. 18The heads were thought lost forever. 19But in 1977, workers working in a courtyard in Paris uncovered hundreds of pieces of stone sculptures. Experts confirmed they were the missing heads of Notre Dame's kings of Judah statues. 20Today, 22 of the heads have been repaired and are shown at the Cluny Museum in Paris. 21The 2019 fire exposed a worldwide lack of outdoor lead pollution guidelines. 22The 2019 fire that almost destroyed Notre Dame caused a serious health risk. When the flames melted the top of the building, large amounts of harmful lead dust were released into the air and came down across Paris. 23Officials found there were no rules to measure the danger of outdoor lead dust. This was not just a Paris issue - major cities like London and Rome, and even the World Health Organization - do not have guidelines for outdoor lead pollution. 24The Notre Dame fire forced officials to take a closer look at their safety standards. It took four months for the city to complete an extensive cleaning of the city's streets even as visitors and the citizens of Paris walked around the cathedral every day. 25Now that you know these five things, you can enjoy seeing the photos of the new Notre Dame when it opens to the public. 26I'm Caty Weaver. 27Tom Nouvian reported this story for the Associated Press. Jill Robbins adapted it for Learning English. 28______________________________________________ 29Words in This Story 30symbol - n. an action, object, event, etc., that expresses or represents a particular idea or quality 31gargoyle - n. a strange or ugly human or animal figure that sticks out from the roof of a building (such as a church) and is used to cause rainwater to flow away from the sides of a building. 32chimera - n. a monster from Greek mythology that breathes fire and has a lion's head, a goat's body, and a snake's tail 33resemble - v. to look or be like 34horizontal - adj. positioned from side to side rather than up and down; parallel to the ground 35spike - n. a long, thin rod that ends in a point and is often made of metal 36façade - n. the front of a building 37spout - n. a tube, pipe, or hole out of which a liquid flows 38royalty - n. members of a royal family 39courtyard - n. an open space that is surrounded completely or partly by a building or group of buildings 40flame - n. the hot, glowing gas that can be seen when a fire is burning 41What do you think of this story? 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