The Notre Dame, a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Ile de la Cite, remains one of the most recognised symbols of the city of Paris and the French nation. It is considered one of the best examples of French Gothic architecture. With its flying buttress, rib vault and rose windows, the cathedral is hard to miss. While it has been frequently worked on over the centuries (and is currently being repaired as a result of the catastrophic fire in 2019), the first construction of the cathedral can be traced back to 1163. Victor Hugo's famous novel
The Hunchback of Notre Dame was inspired by Notre Dame, and it was the venue for Napoleon I's coronation and many of the funerals of the Presidents of the French Republic.
