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Written by Patti Lynn
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Wednesday, 17 October 2007 19:00 |
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The cathedral is dedicated to, "Our Lady" (Notre Dame) and stands in the center of France, the point from where all distances are measured. This is also the center of Paris. Midst so much historical significance and architectural grandeur, it is difficult to select a focal point on which to write a post. 
I'd studied about the edifice's flying buttresses and the orders of columns in an art class, but other than that I knew very little about Notre Dame. The facade includes a panel depicting Judgment Day. Angels with trumpets are reminding us that all people from all social classes will be judged someday. Jesus stands between twelve apostles. Above them is a row of 28 kings of Judah. Somewhere between 1789 and 1799 (during the French Revolution) the citizenry took these statues to represent the much despised kings of France. So, they decapitated the statues. A neighborhood school teacher collected the heads and buried them for safe keeping in his back yard. In 1977, some 200 years later, they were discovered during excavation for a construction project. Today the 28 original heads can be seen a few blocks away in the Cluny Museum and the original statues have had reproduction heads installed. 
When the rise of Christianity started to become threatening in Paris, the bishop of Paris, St. Denis, was beheaded by the Romans. This was to put the fear of the Roman gods into Christians entertaining the idea of forsaking the establishment ways. Well, it is said that St. Denis, headless but determined, "Got up, tucked his head under his arm and headed north, paused at a fountain to wash it off and continued on until he found just the right place to meet his Maker. Parisians were convinced by this miracle and Christianity gained ground and a church soon replaced a pagan temple". 
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