Notre-Dame Facts for Kids

This page is part of Paris Facts for Kids. Every fact here comes from Rebâtir Notre-Dame de Paris, the public body in charge of the restoration, or from the Centre des monuments nationaux, which runs the towers. Each fact has a number in brackets that matches a source at the bottom of the page, so you can cite it for a school project. Notre-Dame’s own website is not used as a source on this page; some popular numbers about the cathedral are left out for that reason, and you can find them named in the Is it true? box below.

Quick facts

Why did Notre-Dame catch fire?

On April 15, 2019, a fire broke out at Notre-Dame during renovation work. The flames destroyed the wooden roof frame, and the tall spire above the crossing of the church collapsed into the building. The floor was left “littered with the mass of debris from the spire, the vault, the framework and the roofs”¹³.

The pages used for this article do not give a cause for the fire, so this page does not repeat one. If you have read a specific cause online, treat it carefully and check it against an official source before using it in a school project.

How did workers save the cathedral right after the fire?

Before anyone could rebuild anything, the cathedral had to be made safe. In the days after the fire, workers evacuated about 1,300 artworks and other treasures, cleared the debris, and began supporting the building³.

Notre-Dame has 28 flying buttresses, the stone arches that lean against the outside walls and hold them up. All 28 had to be propped up with wooden supports before work could continue, since the fire had put extra strain on them. Workers also dismantled the Great Organ, which has about 8,000 pipes, taking it apart so it could be cleaned and repaired safely away from the site, and they built scaffolding inside the cathedral to hold the walls steady³. By the summer of 2021, the cathedral had been secured enough for the real restoration work to begin³.

How did builders rebuild the spire?

The spire that had stood over Notre-Dame dated from a big 1860s restoration led by the architect Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc, and the team rebuilding it after the fire worked to recreate it “exactly as it was before the fire”².

That meant using the same building method: a wooden frame covered in lead, not steel or concrete. Carpenters and their workshops needed about 1,000 oak trees to rebuild the spire and the roof frame over the transept, the part of the church that crosses the main aisle². Stonemasons needed nearly 1,300 cubic meters (about 45,900 cubic feet) of new stone to repair masonry that the fire had destroyed².

On December 16, 2023, workers lifted a new golden rooster onto the very top of the rebuilt spire, about 96 meters (roughly 315 feet) above the ground. That moment marked the end of the spire’s structural work, though lead covering and other decoration continued afterward². In September 2025, scaffolding came down from around the spire’s base, showing 16 restored copper statues that stand there again².

What happened to the organ and the windows?

The Great Organ, the huge instrument built into the west end of the cathedral, was cleaned and restored in workshops in the south of France and the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region after being taken apart pipe by pipe²³. Rebâtir Notre-Dame de Paris says the organ “found its voice again” once it went back in².

New stained-glass windows are also part of the project, though they are not about repairing fire damage. Six chapels along the south side of the nave, the church’s long central hall, are getting contemporary windows on the theme of Pentecost, designed by the artist Claire Tabouret. As of a September 2026 update, production was more than two-thirds finished, and installation was still planned for the end of 2026².

When did Notre-Dame reopen, and who paid for it?

Notre-Dame reopened in December 2024, a little over five and a half years after the fire¹. Rebâtir Notre-Dame de Paris, the public body set up to manage the project, was created on December 1, 2019¹.

The rebuilding was paid for by about 340,000 donors from France and countries around the world, which the agency itself calls “an extraordinary mobilization.” Craftspeople and workshops “all over France” took part¹.

Can you climb the towers?

Yes, but it is a separate paid visit from the free cathedral below, run by the Centre des monuments nationaux. As of September 2026, an individual ticket costs €16, and tickets are only sold online, not at the door⁴.

Visitors under 18, EU nationals aged 18 to 25, disabled visitors and a companion, and a few other groups get in free, but a reserved time slot is required either way⁴. The climb itself is 424 steps up to 69 meters (about 226 feet), with some passages just 45 centimeters (about 18 inches) wide where you have to bend down. Once at the top, visitors can only stay for five minutes⁴.

Official pages disagree slightly on the exact step count: the visit-information page gives 424 steps for the whole climb, while a history page on the same site says 389 steps get you to the terraces⁴⁵. This page uses 424, since that is the number tied to the ticket and the timed visit.

Strollers are not allowed inside the towers, along with helmets, drones, selfie sticks and large luggage⁴. For hours, how to book, and what else is nearby, see the Notre-Dame visitor guide and do you need tickets for Notre-Dame.

How old are the towers, and why are they not quite the same?

The two towers were finished a decade apart: the north tower (sometimes called the great tower) was done around 1240, and the south tower was built in 1250, during the reign of King Louis IX, also known as Saint Louis⁵.

They are not identical. The north tower is 14.91 meters (about 49 feet) wide, and the south tower is 13.69 meters (about 45 feet) wide, a difference of 1.22 meters (roughly 4 feet) that the towers’ own page says has no documented explanation⁵. The south tower also carries more weight. It holds the cathedral’s two biggest bells, called bourdons, named Marie and Emmanuel. Its belfry, the wooden frame that holds the bells, together with its floors and sound shutters, is estimated to weigh 115 tonnes (roughly 127 US tons). That is 14 tonnes (about 15 US tons) more than the belfry in the north tower⁵.

What are the bells called?

Notre-Dame has 10 bells in total: 8 smaller ones called “benjamines” and 2 large ones called “bourdons”⁶. Archive records mention bells ringing at Notre-Dame from the end of the 12th century onward⁶.

The most famous bell is Emmanuel, a bourdon that has rung from the south tower since 1686 and is described by the towers’ own page as having “one of the most beautiful sounds in Europe.” Its partner bourdon in the south tower is named Marie⁵⁶. During the French Revolution, the original bells were “lowered, broken and melted down,” but Emmanuel survived⁶. In 2013, for the cathedral’s 850th anniversary, eight new benjamines went into the north tower and a new bourdon joined the south tower, recreating the sound the cathedral had in the 18th century⁶.

Is it true?

“Notre-Dame was built in one steady stretch in the Middle Ages, and we know the exact start and finish years.” Many websites give the dates 1163 to 1345 for the original medieval building. The sources used for this article, the restoration agency and the towers’ own visitor site, do not state a start or finish date for that original construction, so this page does not repeat one.

“We know exactly what started the 2019 fire.” No official cause is given on the pages used for this article. This page does not repeat a cause you may have read elsewhere.

“All ten of Notre-Dame’s bells have well-known individual names.” Two names are confirmed on the towers’ own pages: Emmanuel, the historic bourdon that has rung since 1686, and Marie, its partner bourdon⁵⁶. The other eight bells are not individually named on the pages used here, so this page does not repeat other names you might find elsewhere.

“Notre-Dame is exactly a certain height, or the nave is a certain length.” The sources used for this article do not give the cathedral’s overall height or the length of the nave, so this page does not repeat those numbers. If your project needs them, ask your teacher which reference book to cite.

Quiz: How much do you remember?

For teachers and parents

Reading level is aimed at grades 4 to 6. All facts trace to Rebâtir Notre-Dame de Paris, the public agency overseeing the restoration, or to the Centre des monuments nationaux, which runs the towers. To cite this page: Ellery, Margot. “Notre-Dame Facts for Kids.” paristourist.info, updated September 20, 2026. For a primary source, cite the numbered pages below directly. More fact pages and ready-made question sets are listed at Paris school project help.

Frequently Asked Questions

When did Notre-Dame catch fire?

On April 15, 2019, a fire destroyed the cathedral’s roof frame and made its spire collapse¹.

How long did it take to rebuild Notre-Dame?

About five and a half years. The fire happened in April 2019, and the cathedral reopened in December 2024¹.

How many steps lead to the top of the Notre-Dame towers?

424 steps, according to the visit-information page for the towers⁴.

Who paid to rebuild Notre-Dame?

About 340,000 donors from France and around the world¹.

Can kids visit the towers for free?

Visitors under 18 get in free, but everyone, including free visitors, must book a time slot in advance⁴.

How many bells does Notre-Dame have?

Ten: eight smaller bells called benjamines, and two large bells called bourdons, one of which, Emmanuel, has rung since 1686⁵⁶.

What is the golden rooster on top of the spire?

A new golden rooster was placed on top of the rebuilt spire on December 16, 2023, about 96 meters (roughly 315 feet) above the ground, marking the end of the spire’s structural rebuilding².

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