Adored, neglected, and restored: A 1968 Nat Geo feature explored Notre Dame

Fifty years ago, we published an ode to Paris' most famous cathedral.

“Sublime and majestic edifice,” wrote author Victor Hugo of the Cathedral of Notre Dame. The medieval masterpiece, its flying buttresses and sculptures gleaming in floodlight, rises beside the Seine from the island heart of the French capital.

Photograph by Bruce Dale, Nat Geo Image Collection

Published April 16, 2019

40 min read

This story first appeared in the May 1968 issue of National Geographic Magazine. We have republished the article due to the April 2019 fire at Notre Dame Cathedral.

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Adored, neglected, and restored: A 1968 Nat Geo feature explored Notre Dame

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Adored, neglected, and restored: A 1968 Nat Geo feature explored Notre Dame

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