Notre-Dame

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"Encircled by 24 petals of light, our Lady of the Rose watches, silent as stone, o'er believers below."

―A riddle by Nostradamus describing Notre-Dame.

Notre-Dame
Political information
Description	Paris' most famous cathedral.
Location	Île de la Cité, Paris, France
Date constructed	1160 – 1345
Historical information
Functions	Church
Additional information
Notable features	Viewpoint
Significant events	Notre-Dame de Paris fire

Notre-Dame, or the Notre-Dame Cathedral (French: Notre-Dame de Paris), is a famous Gothic-style cathedral located on the Île de la Cité in Paris, France. The structure was heavily desecrated and burgled during the tumultuous French Revolution.

History

Classical period

During the Peloponnesian War, the Spartan Kassandra saw a vision of an eagle flying toward Notre-Dame cathedral after she touched the pyramid made from collected fragments at the center of the Sanctuary of Kosmos beneath the Sanctuary of Delphi. However, the mercenary had no clue as to where the place of worship was or when this would take place.

Construction

Built on the site of the former Saint-Étienne, Notre-Dame's construction began in 1163 and lasted for more than a century before it was completed in 1250. It would then undergo numerous changes over the next century. The cathedral was one of the first buildings in Europe to use flying buttresses, which allowed for much higher and thinner walls around the choir and the nave. They also provided the support necessary for the inclusion of the Notre-Dame's rose windows.

French Revolution

In 1791, the French Templar Charles Gabriel Sivert arranged a meeting with his associate Duchesneau, which was to take place in Notre-Dame while Mass was being held. To accomplish this, his men stole the cathedral's master keys from one of the priests and positioned themselves throughout the building. However, the Assassin Arno Dorian managed to reclaim the keys and gain access to Notre-Dame, where he assassinated Sivert as the latter waited in a confessional booth.

Arno would later discover a secret laboratory beneath the cathedral which had been used by the noted alchemist Nicolas Flamel. During the Revolution, many of Notre-Dame's relics were stolen by the Templars, who used the nearby Hôtel-Dieu's sewer system to smuggle them away from the cathedral. In response, the Parisian Brotherhood sent agents to recover the artifacts and return them to Notre-Dame.

By 1793, the dechristianization of France was in full effect, with the Notre-Dame being rededicated to the Cult of Reason and later the Cult of the Supreme Being. The newly appointed National Guard were formally established during a benediction at the cathedral. Many of Notre-Dame's greatest treasures were subsequently looted and the statues of the biblical Kings of Judah were decapitated, having been mistaken for statues of the Kings of France; the cathedral's great bells managed to survive unscathed, however. Afterwards, Notre-Dame ended up being used as a storage facility for the troops, with the damage sustained during the revolution not being repaired until 1845.

Modern times

In the early 21st century, the Assassin Gavin Banks had an Animus stored in the church. However, it was destroyed during a fire in April 2019.

Behind the scenes

The Notre-Dame was single-handedly recreated for Assassin's Creed: Unity by Senior Level Artist Caroline Miousse, who spent more than two years on constructing the iconic monument. While most of the cathedral is faithful to the original, creative liberties had to be taken with most of the art that adorns it, which is protected under copyright law.

On 15 April 2019, at 6:30 p.m. local time, an electrical short circuit in Notre-Dame's attic sparked a fire which rapidly spread. According to French authorities, the cathedral barely escaped complete destruction, having been only 15 to 30 minutes away from structural damage so severe it likely would have caused the building's collapse. In order to help, Ubisoft pledged €500,000 towards Notre-Dame's reconstruction, made the PC version of Assassin's Creed: Unity free to download between 17–25 April, and encouraged donations to help restore the church.

Contrary to coverage from outlets like IGN, New Musical Express, and Stuff.tv claiming that Unity's highly detailed renders of Notre-Dame could help rebuild the cathedral, views that were echoed on resetera's gaming forums and even GPS sites, in truth, Ubisoft had promised no such thing. When reached for comment by The Guardian, a spokesperson said the company "[was] not currently involved in the reconstruction of Notre Dame" but would gladly provide their files to assist where possible if requested, before continuing on to ask media and fans alike to remember that the Notre-Dame in Unity was "for the game [and] was not a scientific reconstruction but rather an artistic vision".

Gallery

Concept art of an execution taking place at the Notre-Dame

Concept art of the Notre-Dame's facade

Concept art of the Notre-Dame's rooftops

Concept art of an altar in the Notre-Dame

Concept art of Notre-Dame's interior

Concept art of Notre-Dame's interior

An illustration of Notre-Dame

Notre-Dame in Kassandra's visions

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Rogue (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed: Unity
• Project Widow (painting only)
• Assassin's Creed: Gold (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: Odyssey (vision only)