The Notre Dame Cathedral Paris, a masterpiece of faith, art and history, is the cathedral of the Catholic archdiocese of Paris. It is one of the best-known symbols of the French capital, and the most-visited monument in France, ahead of the Eiffel Tower. The Notre Dame Cathedral is on UNESCO’s World Heritage List and attracts 13 million believers, pilgrims and visitors each year. It is stage to major celebrations for the diocese and the French republic.

Notre Dame Paris Crown of Thorns

The relics of the Passion presented at Cathedral Notre Dame de Paris include a piece of the Cross, which had been kept in Rome and delivered by Saint Helen, the mother of Emperor Constantine, a nail of the Passion and the Holy Crown of Thorns.

Of these relics, the Crown of Thorns is without a doubt the most precious and the most revered. Despite numerous studies and historical and scientific research efforts, its authenticity cannot be certified.

It has been the object of more than sixteen centuries of fervent Christian prayer.

Saint John tells that, in the night between Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, Roman soldiers mocked Christ and his Sovereignty by placing a thorny crown on his head (John 19:12).

The crown housed in the Paris cathedral is a circle of canes bundled together and held by gold threads. The thorns were attached to this braided circle, which measures 21 centimeters in diameter.

The thorns were divided up over the centuries by the Byzantine emperors and the Kings of France. There are seventy, all of the same type, which has been confirmed as the original thorns.

The accounts of 4th century pilgrims to Jerusalem allude to the Crown of Thorns and the instruments of the Passion of Christ.

In 409, Saint Paulinus of Nola mentions is as being one of the relics kept in the basilica on Mount Zion in Jerusalem.

In 570, Anthony the Martyr found it exhibited for veneration in the Basilica of Zion.

Around 575, Cassiodorus, in his Exposition on the 75th Psalm, exclaimed, Jerusalem has the Column, here, there is the Crown of Thorns! In 870, once again in Jerusalem, Bernard the Monk noted it as well.

Between the 7th and the 10th centuries, the relics were moved progressively to the Byzantine emperors’ chapel in Constantinople, mainly to keep them safe from pillaging, like that suffered by the Holy Sepulchre during the Persian invasions.

In 1238, Byzantium was governed by Latin Emperor Baldwin of Constantinople. As he was in great financial difficulty, he decided to pawn the relics in a Venetian bank to get credit. Saint Louis, the king of France, took over and paid back the Venetians.

On 10 August 1239, the king, followed by a brilliant procession, welcomed twenty-nine relics in Villeneuve-l’Archevêque. On 19 August 1239, the procession arrived in Paris; the king took off his royal garments. Wearing only a simple tunic and with bare feet, assisted by his brother, took the Crown of Thorns to Notre-Dame de Paris before placing the relics in the palace chapel. He built a reliquary worthy of housing these relics, Saint Chapelle.

During the French revolution, the relics were stored in the National Library.

After the Concordat in 1801, they were given back to the archbishop of Paris who placed them in the Cathedral Notre Dame treasury on 10 August 1806. They are still housed there today.

Since then, these relics have been conserved by the canons of the Metropolitan Basilica Chapter, who is in charge of venerations, and guarded by the Knights of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.

Napoleon I and Napoleon III each offered reliquaries for the crown of thorns.

They are on display at Notre-Dame.These relics are presented to the believers for veneration on the first Friday of each month, every Friday during Lent at 3 pm, and on Good Friday from 10 am to 5 pm.

During the jubilee year, every Friday, at the end of the mass of 6.15 PM until 7.15 PM, occurs the ostentation of the Crown of thorns.

This practice unifies believers in contemplation of the Mystery of Easter, which is the source of their faith, both as the expression of Christ’s unbounded love for men and his solidarity with their suffering.

For Pilgrims

The Cathedral Notre Dame de Paris is happy to welcome: pilgrims, Christians, visitors from all over the world, believers and non-believers, everyone who is willing! Cathedral Notre Dame de Paris is a church, a place of Roman Catholic worship, where Christians come together to pray. It opens its doors to you to participate in services or to freely visit the cathedral all year long.

Access to the Cathedral Notre Dame is open and free of charge every day of the year, during the opening hours.

From the moment they enter the Portals, pilgrims and visitors are invited to relax, leaving the hubbub of the street behind, and show a respectful attitude, through both their behaviour and their clothing, to this great Christian site where men and women have come to pray and to confide in God for over eight centuries.

To attend services

To attend services, please take any seat in the nave (or in the choir for 8 and 9 o’clock masses during the week) a few minutes before the service, or 10 to 15 minutes before for Sunday and holiday services.

All the services are in French, but the 11:30 am mass on Sunday is the international Mass with part of readings and prayers in English. There’s no service only in English at the cathedral.

EVERY SATURDAYS AND SUNDAYS AT 9.15 PM

For several years, the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris gives a regular appointment in the evening to thousands of visitors from around the world for night events. They are audiovisual shows projected on a screen of tulle, of over 100 square meters hanging in the nave. The entrance of these shows is free.

Notre Dame Paris mass times WEEKDAYS, MONDAY TO SATURDAY NOON

8:00 a.m. mass in the choir

9:00 a.m. mass in the choir (Except in July, August and first half of September)

12:00 p.m. mass at the main altar

5:45 p.m. Vespers service broadcast live on KTO-Catholic Television

6:15 p.m. mass at the main altar

Notre Dame Paris mass times – SUNDAY SERVICES

The celebration of Sundays and solemnities begins the evening before, in accordance with the old Biblical calendar’s practice of days beginning the prior evening.

Saturday:

5:45 p.m. First Sunday Vespers service

6:30 p.m. Sunday mass at the main altar

Sundays (all services held at the main altar):

8:30 a.m. Mass

9:30 a.m. Lauds service

10:00 a.m. Notre Dame Paris Gregorian mass of the cathedral chapter

11:30 a.m. international mass

12:45 p.m. Mass

5:45 p.m. Vespers service

6:30 p.m. mass usually by the archbishop, broadcast live on KTO-Catholic Television and Radio Notre-Dame

Praying in the Cathedral Notre Dame

As a church, Notre-Dame de Paris is entirely devoted to religion. Some sites (the Christ on the Cross, the Reception Chapels, the Virgin with Child, the chapel of the Holy Sacrament…) serve more specific purposes to encourage pilgrims and visitors to reflect and pray. For more information, visit this page.

Individual tours

The Cathedral Notre Dame organizes visits every day. They last approximately one hour and present this site’s Christian message by examining the cathedral as a work of art and the artwork it houses (architecture, sculptures, paintings, stained glass, history). These visits are free of charge. You can find all the hours on the agenda and more information concerning

tours on this page.

Audioguides are also available if you would like a visit with commentary without joining a group or if there are no visits offered by the cathedral when you will be at Notre-Dame.

They also include an approximately 35-minute long visit, including the Treasury, presenting the cathedral’s spiritual message through its architecture, its History, its rosettes, its Life and its influence… Available from 9:30 am to 6:00 pm (1:00 pm to 6:00 pm Sundays). Prices: €5.

The cathedral’s Treasury is located in the sacristy and presents liturgical objects, mainly made of gold. The Treasury of Notre-Dame de Paris exhibits objects from the 17th and 18th centuries and testifies to 19th-century workmanship as seen in the painstakingly created gold liturgical objects, architecture, furniture, and neo-gothic decoration.

Open Monday to Friday from 9:30 am to 6:00 pm; Saturday from 9:30 am to 6:30 pm; Sunday from 1:30 pm to 6:30 pm Full price: €3. Reduced rate (under 26 years old, the unemployed, etc.): €2. Children aged 6 to 12: €1.

Every day from 9:30 am to 6:00 pm (from 9:00 am on Saturday and Sunday), information hosts and hostesses are on hand for any questions. They are stationed at the information office located immediately inside the cathedral entrance.

They are available by phone at +33 1 42 34 56 10. To help you with your visit, booklets ranging in detail level (from €2 to €20) are available inside the cathedral: at the reception-information desk (at the entrance) or at the religious article sales counter (at the exit).

The cathedral Towers are also open for visits, which give breathtaking views of Paris, plus detailed looks at the roof, the spire, and the cathedral’s largest bell, the Emmanuel Bell.

This visit is managed by the National Monuments Centre. Access located outside the cathedral, at the foot of the North Tower (rue du Cloître). For more information (opening hours and rates), visit this page. An archaeological Crypt located under the cathedral’s Parvis shows the results of the excavations under the Parvis which revealed the ruins of ancient Paris.

The entrance is located opposite the cathedral façade, across from the Police Headquarters / Préfecture de Police.

The Cathedral Notre Dame tower visit

The Cathedral Notre Dame tower visit is a trip through all of the upper parts of the western façade, dating from the 13th century, where visitors can contemplate the gargoyles and chimera built by Viollet-le-Duc in the 19th century and the 17th century Emmanuel Bell. 387 steps (there is no elevator) to the top of the South Tower.

The entrance for the visit to the tower is located OUTSIDE of the cathedral, on the left-hand side of the facade, Rue du Cloître Notre-Dame. The Tower visit is managed by the National Monuments Centre. Informations : +33 1 53 10 07 00.

Opened every day:

– from April 1st till September 30th, from 10 AM to 6:30 PM

(in July and August: Friday and Saturday, from 10 AM to 11 PM)

– from October 1st to March 31st, 10 am to 5:30 pm

Last access 45 mn before the closure

Closed on January 1st, on May 1st, December 25th

Hours under reserve

The archaeological Crypt under the Parvis de Notre-Dame

The archaeological Crypt under the Parvis de Notre-Dame de Paris was built to protect the ruins discovered during the excavations that began in 1965, conducted by the Commission du Vieux Paris (Archaeology and Architecture History Department).

The crypt was opened in 1980 with the aim of presenting elements from the successive buildings constructed on the site from Ancient times to the 19th century.

The archaeological Crypt is located under the Parvis and accessed by staircases opposite the cathedral, near the Police Headquarters / Préfecture de Police. The crypt is currently managed by the Musée Carnavalet.- Website of the archaeological Crypt of the Parvis

1, place du Parvis Notre-Dame

75004 Paris

Tel: +33 1 55 42 50 10

Fax: : +33 1 43 29 30 55

– Tuesday to Sunday, 10 am to 6 pm.

Ticket counters close at 5:30 pm.

Closed Mondays and public holidays

Children’s and adults’ activities, tours, lectures, workshops: information and reservations at +33 1 44 59 58 32 (telephone) or +33 1 44 59 58 07 (fax)

Notre Dame cathedral facts

Notre Dame Cathedral Paris is entirely devoted to religion. Some sites, indicated on the map below, serve more specific purposes to encourage pilgrims and visitors to reflect and pray.

1. Christ on the Cross (19th century): you can reflect, pray, or light a candle.

2. and 3. Reception Chapels Saint-François-Xavier and Sainte-Geneviève: you can meet with priests every day of the week to discuss matters or receive the sacrament of reconciliation. Click here for more information.

4. Prayer books, at the foot of Notre-Dame de Paris, where anyone can write down prayer requests. They are prayed every evening at the end of the last mass.

5. Virgin with Child, or Notre-Dame de Paris (14th century), located at the entrance to the choir: you can go there to reflect, pray, or light a candle.

6. Main altar (20th century) where daily services, the Vespers service, the noon mass, the last mass of the day, and all Sunday services are celebrated.

7. Cathedral choir where mass is celebrated at 8 am and 9 am, Monday to Saturday.

See Top 15 Catholic shrines around the world.

8. The apsidal chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows: this chapel holds the Holy Sacrament. In particular, you can go there to reflect, pray, or light a candle.

9. Statue of Saint-Denis (18th century), martyr, first bishop of Paris in the 3rd century: you can go there to reflect, pray, or light a candle.

10. Virgin with Child, dedicated to Our Lady of the Students (18th century): you can go there to reflect, pray, or light a candle.

11. Chapel of Our Lady of Guadalupe (20th century) dedicated in 1963 on the request of the Mexicans of Paris: you can reflect, pray, light a candle

See other Catholic sites in France.