Notre-Dame de Paris belongs to the Common Era — dated here to c. 1345 CE at Paris, France. Dates mark a scholarly centre of gravity (dedication, completion, or iconic phase), not a single foundation day.
The cathedral that defined Paris’s skyline for centuries — flying buttresses, rose windows, and a 2019 fire that proved how loved it was.
How it amazes the brain
Gothic skeleton with oak roof “forest.” Restoration after the blaze is a live archaeology of craft.
Why it counts as a wonder
It never needed a contest ballot to scramble the brain: scale, craft, or sheer improbability is enough.
Hugo made it literature; engineers keep making it survive.
On dating
CE means years after the traditional birth of Christ. A monument listed as c. 1345 CE may have been founded earlier, rebuilt later, or become famous only in one phase. Engineering wonders (dams, tunnels, orbiting labs) are dated to opening or assembly.
This is story 16 of 100 in The Trend Ledger’s illustrated desk on world wonders raised after the birth of Christ — the companions to our BCE series.