Set between the two arms of the river Seine, the lle de la Cite offers the passerby one of the most beautiful jewels of the French capital, and one of Europe's masterpieces of Gothic architecture: the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris.

After recounting the events linking Notre-Dame to the city of Paris, author Alain Erlande-Brandenburg explains how the city, which Clovis made his capital in the sixth century, acquired an ancient cathedral that was rebuilt beginning in the twelfth century. The history of the cathedral's construction, as well as its restoration in the nineteenth century, is recounted in detail in this exhaustive study.

Particular attention is also devoted to the building's abundant sculpture, especially the moving remnants of the twelfth- and thirteenth-century programs now preserved in the Musee de Cluny.