Crypte archéologique

Text

Michel Fleury was a passionate French historian, and archeologist with a specialization in Paris’s medieval history. He led a commission within the French government that evaluated petitions to either build, destroy or modify buildings in Paris. He and the commission determined whether the city’s architectural or archaeological record might be threatened by the proposed projects and advised the mayor accordingly (Harrington 52). Fleury’s character is of note because he was called the “dinosaur of archaeology” by the French press due to his staunch views and irate attitude toward the younger generation of archeologists. This was a moniker that he took up with zeal. He put dinosaurs on his official stationery and even posed for a picture with a papier mache dinosaur mask. Despite his demeanor the man is almost single-handedly responsible for saving innumerable medieval buildings in Paris from the wrecking ball.

The excavation revealed ruins from three major time periods that show the gradual history of the formation of Paris as we know it. Let’s start from the very beginning with the tribe of Gauls that settled the area around Notre Dame in ancient times. The land that Notre Dame stands on, now called the Île de la Cité, was once part of an ancient Gallo-Roman town called Lutetia, or Lutèce in French. Lutetia was first settled by the Gauls sometime in the third-century B.C. As time went on, they got entangled with the Romans during the time of Julius Cesar and the reign of Augustus (27 B.C. - 14 A.D.). After the Gauls came under Roman governance, the centuries would bring kings, emperors, and saints to the shores of Lutetia. Time would also bring invaders like Attila the Hun and the Frankish, which resulted in the city being fortified in 308 A.D. The people dismantled and reused many Roman structures to build the necessary fortifications around the city to protect against their enemies. These fortifications not only survived the sieges they were meant to withstand, but they have also survived 2,000 years to be unearthed by Fleury’s excavation in 1965.

The second time period that the crypt encapsulates is the time in which construction on the famed Notre Dame cathedral began in the Middle Ages. When Archbishop Maurice de Sully began building his new cathedral in 1163, many buildings had to be demolished or moved to make space for the new structure. This resulted in homes, basilicas, and hospitals being reduced to their foundations or moved to new locations adjacent to the cathedral. A new street called the rue Neuve Notre-Dame was added in front of the building, which was directly in line with the central portal of the cathedral. The remains from this time period have allowed archaeologists to have a clearer picture of what existed in the area before Notre Dame came to be.

The final time period represented in the crypt of Notre Dame is remnants of buildings demolished to make way for Georges-Eugène Haussmann’s urban renewal plan. He was commissioned in 1853 by Napoleon III to demolish the medieval buildings to make way for better traffic flows and to improve the overall sanitation of the city. The resulting architectural changes have become the major defining architectural characteristic of the city. During this period of Haussmannization the hospitals and new buildings that went up in the mid-18th century have been removed and the French police headquarters has risen in its place.

The crypt was not formally managed by a museum until 2000 when the Musée Carnavalet took over. The museum focuses on the city’s history from the very beginning in Gallo-Roman times to today, which perfectly encompasses the crypt site. They create and show exhibitions at the crypt that highlight the history of the ruins while making it interesting and accessible to visitors.

Today despite its famous location, the crypt remains a hidden jewel in plain sight. The entrance to the crypt is off to the side of Notre Dame, away from the main bustle of tourist. The signage and advertisements focus almost solely on the activities of the main cathedral. In the wake of the 2019 fire, the crypt has been cleaned to remove the toxic lead and make the space safe for visitors once more. In September of 2020, the crypt was reopened to the public while the restoration of the cathedral continues above. They have reopened with an exhibition about Victor Hugo’s influence on the restoration of Notre Dame that was carried out by Viollet Le-Duc in 1844-1864. Despite the unfortunate circumstances, with the lack of access to the cathedral above the crypt may finally get the attention it deserves.