The crypt of the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris was opened to visitors in 1980. Create this underground museum came about by accident: in 1965, construction began under the cathedral parking lot, and builders stumbled upon some ancient times. Up until 1972 there were excavations, gave surprising results. Archaeologists have discovered the ruins and abandoned buildings, under construction since ancient times. Thus, the crypt of the cathedral is today something of a time machine, allowing travel through the thickness of the century.

The term "crypt" in Western European architecture called underground vaulted room, located under the altar and the church choir. Typically, these facilities were used for the burial of the relics of saints and martyrs. On the Ile de la Cité, they are under the porch of the cathedral, and they are called "the crypt of the porch of Notre Dame de Paris." In the course of another name - The archaeological crypt.

Dungeons stretches under the cathedral at 120 meters. Here you can see the remains of another authentic Gallo-Roman era street of Emperor Augustus - a contemporary of Christ. Well preserved clever underground heating system building, by the Romans. Lutetia, as it was called settlement gained special significance in the third and fifth centuries BC: the city, named Parisot, became a Roman outpost on the way barbarians. The island grew strong fortifications - masonry fortress wall that surrounded the city in the III century, may be considered in detail. On the map of modern Paris can be found ancient baths, forum, amphitheater - the shadow of the ancient Paris.

Rapid construction was carried out in the Cité and in the Middle Ages. Its center was, of course, the cathedral itself, construction of which began in 1163 and ended only in 1345. Medieval buildings did not survive to the present day - in the XVIII century, many of which were demolished for the construction of roads. The picture was completed the radical restructuring of the city when Baron Haussmann, which killed a lot of old buildings. Now you can see the crypt of the detailed layout of the old forever departed Paris - they help to understand how the century after century was the development of the French capital.