Three Tips for Reading the Cathedral

It would be a shame to snap a few photos of Notre-Dame's breathtaking beauty and move on. Learn a few secret codes and the cathedral looks completely different. Here are three tips for decoding the symbols and structure hidden in all that grandeur.

First, step back and take in the whole thing. Standing right in front of the façade and feeling dwarfed is wonderful, but the real magic shows up from a little distance. Try the far bank of the Seine or one of the bridges behind the cathedral for an unhurried view. Construction is in full swing right now, but the silhouette rising beyond it is still moving. Look especially for the graceful curves of the flying buttresses, which hold up the building like wings.

Second, think about which way the cathedral faces. It works like a giant compass. The entrance you walk through always faces west. The setting sun makes the west a symbol of darkness and the secular world, so stepping inside is the first step of a sacred journey from darkness into a space of light. The main altar, where Mass is celebrated, faces east, toward Jerusalem. The east is where the sun rises, so it stands for resurrection, hope and new life.

Third, picture a giant cross and a forest. The cathedral's floor plan is a large cross, so walking through it is like a pilgrimage in the footsteps of Jesus. Inside, it feels like a mysterious forest made of stone. The columns that soar endlessly skyward stand for tree trunks, and the carvings near their tops for leaves and bunches of grapes. The ribbed vaults arching across the ceiling are the forest canopy, branches interwoven to cover the sky, and the colorful stained glass is the radiant sunlight streaming through the leaves.

Medieval architects designed this space so that worshippers would feel as if they had stepped into the Garden of Eden at the dawn of creation. So wander through the great stone forest of Notre-Dame, and become a pilgrim walking toward the light.