Notre Dame de Paris

The excesses of the Roman Catholic church has never sat well with me, but as an archectural building, Notre Dame is one heck of a building.  As I learned today it began its life in early 1100 and took 200 and some odd years to build.

As one walked into the oldest part of the cathedral, one understands the political and religious pull the clergy would have on it parishioners.  The size of the building would create the sense of power the clergy lusted for...plus the sheer size made the parishioner feel small and insignificant...just as clergymen would prefer.

Before going into Notre Dame, we visted the crypts. Not really a crypt in the sense that people were buried there, but an archiological exhibit of Paris. In 1964 an underground car park was to be built at Notre Dame.  Instead, the found archilogical evidence of Paris from the 1st century. Instead of the car park, they created an exhibit that is now under a plaza in front of the cathedral.  (This plaza was were the Bread Festival was held.) Fascinating how they are able to map out the Ile de la Cite...as Paris was called in the early centuries.

You can read more about the cathedral and crypt here:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notre_Dame_de_Paris