User:Pigby2/Sandbox
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Notre-Dame de Paris and Saint-Étienne de Paris were two Catholic basilicas collocated on the eastern end of the Île de la Cité in Paris, France in the Early to High Middle Ages which both alternately served as the cathedral of the diocese of Paris. The churches were demolished in the late 12th century during the construction of the current Notre-Dame de Paris which now sits over their foundations. In French, this earlier Notre-Dame is often called the primitive (“original”) Notre-Dame to distinguish it from the current cathedral of the same name. Nevertheless, this building of the 12th century was likely not the true original Notre-Dame, as archaeologists have discovered traces of at least four different churches built in this location before the current cathedral.
One of the churches stood in what is now the nave, crossing, and choir of Notre-Dame, possibly in-line with the current cathedral, while the other was just to the west in what is now the eastern end of the Parvis Notre-Dame and the narthex and nave of the current cathedral. It is now generally presumed that this church to the east was Notre-Dame while the church to the west was Saint-Étienne, but there is no direct evidence to support this.