Notre-Dame is the Gothic masterpiece at the heart of Paris and the country's symbolic centre — all road distances in France are measured from its forecourt. Its first stone was laid in 1163 and the cathedral took 170 years to complete. The flying buttresses on its eastern end are particularly beautiful at dusk.
The 2019 fire that destroyed the spire and much of the roof shocked the world. Restoration work has proceeded rapidly, and the cathedral reopened in December 2024, its interior more brilliantly lit than it has been in centuries. The nave, with its soaring columns and medieval stained glass, is magnificent again. Climbing the towers for gargoyle-level views of the city is once again possible.
The Île de la Cité has more to offer than Notre-Dame alone. A few steps away stands La Sainte-Chapelle (built 1248), a jewel-box chapel whose upper floor is encased almost entirely in 13th-century stained glass — one of the most beautiful interiors in Europe. The nearby Conciergerie was a royal palace that became a revolutionary prison; Marie Antoinette spent her last months here.