Archaeologists uncover 2,000 years beneath Notre Dame

As tourists queue in the summer sun to visit the recently reopened Notre Dame Cathedral, a major archaeological excavation is revealing nearly two millennia of Parisian history just meters beneath their feet. The dig, necessitated by plans to redesign the cathedral’s forecourt, has uncovered artifacts from Roman times through the medieval period, with hundreds of objects already recovered.

The excavation began as a prerequisite for the city’s project to transform the square into a greener, cooler public space by 2028, a plan developed following the cathedral’s restoration after the devastating 2019 fire. Archaeologists must investigate and preserve any historical remains before construction on the new square, which will include approximately 160 trees and cooling features, can proceed.

The team, led by archaeologist Camille Colonna, is working in an open pit four meters deep, where historical traces begin just 50 centimeters below the surface. The stratified site shows distinct layers: medieval cellars from houses that once densely packed the area, Merovingian and Carolingian-era grain pits from the 6th to 10th centuries, and below that, a dense Roman quarter from the 4th and...