As it happens, it was Napoleon who ended up saving the cathedral. Decades later, in 1804, he was crowned emperor there.

Notre-Dame is one of Paris’s most famous landmarks, drawing more than 12 million visitors a year.CreditJean-Sebastien Evrard/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Notre-Dame around 1900.CreditRoger Viollet, via Getty Images
Work on the cathedral did not stop once it was completed. A laborer in about 1900.CreditImagno, via Getty Images
At play in the snow in December 1938.CreditKeystone-France, via Getty Images
American soldiers on the cathedral square on Aug. 25, 1944, when Paris was being liberated during World War II.CreditPierre Jahan/Roger Viollet, via Getty Images
Ordaining deacons in 1938.CreditKeystone-France, via Getty Images
Philippe Petit, the high-wire artist, between the towers in 1971.CreditAgence France-Presse — Getty Images
The cathedral is a jewel of medieval Gothic architecture.CreditDmitry Kostyukov for The New York Times


