Researchers are currently carrying out excavations near Notre-Dame Cathedral, offering a rare insight into the different layers of Parisian history. Reopened to the public at the end of 2024, after five years of extensive construction following the fire of April 15, 2019, Notre-Dame de Paris is once again the subject of work. Among the planned projects are the addition of 160 trees around the building and the transformation of the underground parking lot into a visitor reception center.
The completion of these new developments is, however, conditional on a vast campaign of archaeological excavations, which began in January for a period of eight months. Objective: to protect the vestiges of the city’s past buried in the ground. So far, archaeologists have already dug up to four meters below the surface and uncovered hundreds of objects from different eras. Some even date back to the Roman occupation, almost 2,000 years ago, reports the American magazine Smithsonian Magazine.
“It brings Notre-Dame back to lifeEmily Carter, a tourist from Manchester who was waiting in line with her two children, told the Associated Press. We come to see the cathedral, then we realize that there is another city beneath our feet. It’s almost even more moving.”
Construction of the cathedral began in 1163 and was largely completed in the middle of the 14th century. But the history of the site is much older than that of the Gothic monument. To IVe and Ve centuries, it was home to a Roman colony. Then, until the 10th century, there were Merovingian and Carolingian grain silos there. In the Middle Ages, medieval houses spread out, separated by a single street. During recent excavations, researchers uncovered the cellars of these dwellings, as well as the pits used to collect waste and garbage.
Roman objects discovered in the rubble
Archaeologists have also unearthed numerous artifacts, such as fragments of medieval pottery decorated with mysterious reddish markings, coins bearing the image of the Roman Emperor Constantine, animal bones, metal coins, jugs and cups. “This is a rare opportunity for us to work on a project that will concretely mark the history of Paris”specifies Lucie Altenburg, curator in the Paris archeology department, to the Associated Press.
Between 2019 and 2024, hundreds of restorers and craftsmen set about restoring and repairing the damaged monument. During this process, they were able to observe in an unprecedented way the inner workings of the cathedral and unravel some of its mysteries.
For example, they discovered large iron staples, around 800 years old, which held together the stone blocks of the upper walls, the aisles of the nave and the galleries, contributing to the solidity of the building while preserving its light and elegant appearance. Archaeologists working under the nave of the church also discovered two mysterious lead coffins. One belonged to an 83-year-old high priest, Antoine de la Porte, who died in 1710. The other contained the remains of an unknown rider who could be Joachim du Bellay, a French Renaissance poet who died in 1560.
The objects and structures exhumed remind us that Notre-Dame not only tells the story of a cathedral, but also that of Paris. The current excavations should make it possible to learn more about the evolution of this symbolic place, which has spanned the centuries. A promise that feeds the hopes of researchers and the curiosity of visitors.
