The reconstruction works of the Cathedral of notre-dame from Paris after the serious fire of 2019 they have brought to light important medieval archaeological remainsannounced this Monday the French Ministry of Culture.
Excavations in the transept of the temple have found a part of the old tribune that separated the choir from the nave, an element built around 1230 and destroyed at the beginning of the 18th century.
Elements of that platform had already been discovered during the extensive reform of the cathedral carried out in the 19th century by the architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, and since then they have been exhibited in the Louvre Museum.
The new fragments were found in a pit into which the remains of that construction had been thrown. His finding “represents a discovery of the greatest interest,” explained the Ministry of Culture in a statement.
The excavation also found a stone base, dating at the latest from the 18th centuryand under which numerous graves were found, located in turn on soil that could date back to the 13th century, when the temple began to be used.
Among the graves stands out a anthropomorphic sarcophagus made entirely of lead, which could date back to the 14th century, and due to its characteristics and location, it must have housed the remains of a high-ranking dignitary.
The findings were made in an excavation preventative before installation of a large scaffold for the arrow reconstruction of the cathedral, consumed by the great fire that the temple suffered in April 2019.
The discovered elements offer “vestiges of remarkable scientific quality” that “will help to better understand the history of Notre Dame,” said the Ministry of Culture.