Louis XIII's Vow and the Pietà

This is the heart of the cathedral, the deepest and most sacred spot: the high altar. At its center is the Pietà, flanked by two kneeling kings, and these three works hide a wonderful story. Louis XIII, then on the throne, was heartbroken that after more than 20 years of marriage he still had no son. In France at that time only a son could inherit the crown, and without a suitable heir even the security of the kingdom was at stake. So Louis XIII made a desperate vow to the Virgin Mary: if she granted him a son, he would dedicate the entire kingdom of France to her. And, as if by miracle, a son was soon born. He was Louis XIV, the Sun King, who is regarded as one of the greatest kings in French history.

Louis XIII wanted to build a new altar to keep his promise, but died before he could realize that dream. Decades later, his son Louis XIV, who had not forgotten his father's pledge, finally completed this magnificent altar and honored the vow. At the center of the story is the Pietà by Nicolas Coustou, portraying Mary's grief at the loss of her son and her acceptance of God's will. Before it, the figure offering up his crown as a token of the promise is the father, Louis XIII, and across from him, offering a prayer of thanks, is the son who kept the promise, Louis XIV. The sculptures were carved by two of the finest masters of their day, Nicolas Coustou and Antoine Coysevox.

In the 2019 fire, the spire directly above, built of oak framing and lead, burned and collapsed, and hundreds of tonnes of burning debris cascaded down onto this altar like a waterfall. Everyone assumed these great works must have been destroyed. But when the fire was out, what rescuers found in the ashes was almost unbelievable. In the middle of the devastation, the Pietà stood quietly in place, covered only in dust and almost without a scratch. The two kings on either side had survived, too, by a miracle. That gleaming white figure amid the black ashes sent a powerful message to a despairing world: hope had not collapsed.

Now it is time to see the most precious and sacred treasure Notre-Dame holds: the Crown of Thorns, said to have been worn by Jesus. It is a hugely important relic that King Louis IX, Saint Louis, bought and kept in the Sainte-Chapelle, and that was later held at Notre-Dame. The restored cathedral has created a special space for this precious relic.