Plaza du Parvis Notre- Dame
Tel. 01 55 42 50 10
Subway: Cite
Open: Tue- Sun: 10am- 6pm Closed: 1 May, 1&11 Nov, 25 Dec, 1 Jan
Ancient ruins of Crypte Archeologique or archaeological crypt are located just in front of the Notre Dame cathedral underground. Ruins date back to the time then Romans conquered the Celtic tribe of Parisii 2000 years ago. This tribe also gave the name to the French capital.
The Crypte Archeologique is located directly opposite the front of the cathedral of Notre Dame, in Paris. To enter it you have to enter through an access located in the Place du Parvis of Notre-Dame 1, with the appearance of the mouth of the Metro, which despite being in such a busy area is not very well marked. This entrance is located next to the Prefecture of Police of that area.
In the early 1960s, the idea of rearranging the
Notre-Dame parvis was decided upon. In 1962, the Paris City Council
decided to build an underground car park there. Two years later,
preventive excavations under the authority of archaeologist Michel
Fleury are carried out in order to exhume potential remains. They lasted
until 1975 and were successful: "appeared the remains of Gallo-Roman
public baths, a portion of the 4th century enclosure wall, the
foundations of medieval houses, 18th century buildings as far as the
Haussmannian sewers". Their importance led in 1967 to adopt the
principle of preserving these ruins in the form of a museum crypt, but
hesitations as to the future of the square itself led to the site being
left under construction for several years, to the great displeasure of
elected officials. Parisians. The site for the car park entrance was
decided in 1970, to the west of the forecourt, near the access to the
future crypt, in a discreet contemporary style. In 1973, Michel Fleury
pleaded to extend it even further to the west on the forecourt, where
the remains of Saint-Etienne Cathedral are buried. The opening to the
public of the crypt is long overdue, to the point that Sites & Monuments
wonders: "Will this be placed in the category of myths or sea serpents?"
". It was finally inaugurated in 1980 but underground excavations
continued until 1988, when archaeologist Wenceslas Kruta unearthed the
remains of a quay in the port of Lutèce.
From 2014, the crypt
presents 3D reproductions of Paris through the ages. In 2016, when the
town hall of Paris launched a competition to revitalize the development
of the Ile de la Cité, the urban architect Dominique Perrault proposed
replacing the forecourt of Notre-Dame with a giant glass slab in order
to reveal the presence of the crypt in full view of all passers-by, an
idea finally refused by Emmanuel Grégoire, first deputy to the mayor of
Paris Anne Hidalgo. However, a global redevelopment of the surroundings
of the cathedral remains scheduled for the 2020s, where the question of
a better integration of the crypt with the monuments which border it
remains topical.
Following the fire of Notre-Dame de Paris, the
crypt is closed and does not open for the night of the museums the
following month. Its reopening, delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic, takes
place in July 2021.
Presentation of the site
The crypt
presents many vestiges present in the south of the Ile de la Cité, the
historic heart of Paris. You can observe several elements ranging from
the Gallo-Roman era to the 19th century.
From the Gallo-Roman
era, are preserved:
a section of the quay wall of the ancient port of
Lutèce;
a Gallo-Roman public bathhouse, of which the hypocaust
heating system remains;
part of the enclosure wall from the beginning
of the 4th century.
From the Middle Ages, there remain:
the
basement of the old chapel of the Hôtel-Dieu;
the foundations of the
houses in rue Neuve-Notre-Dame.
From the 18th century, there
remains:
the foundations of the Foundling Hospice.
From the
19th century, there remains:
the route of the Haussmannian sewers.
From 2000 to the end of 2012, the crypt was managed by the Carnavalet
museum. Since January 1, 2013, it is one of the fourteen museums of the
city of Paris managed by the public administrative establishment Paris
Musées.
Site management
The crypt is open from Tuesday to
Sunday inclusive. Except for certain people on presentation of valid
proof, admission is chargeable (with possible reduction), unlike the
majority of the museums of the City of Paris whose access (except for
temporary exhibitions) has been free since December 2001. It is
accessible to people with reduced mobility.