Workers Rebuilding Notre Dame Have Discovered Previously Unknown Tombs and a Mysterious Sarcophagus Beneath the Cathedral

Artnet ^ | March 16th, 2022 | Sarah Cascone,

[shadowlands1960]

Archaeologists working to restore Paris’s fire-damaged Notre Dame cathedral have discovered something remarkable: previously unknown tombs hidden beneath the 850-year-old Gothic church.

Workers made the discovery while installing ground-level scaffolding to help rebuild the church’s fallen spire, according to a statement from the French Ministry of Culture. When they realized that there was something buried at the spot where the transept crosses the nave, the cathedral called in the Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research to investigate.

What they found were several tombs and a leaden sarcophagus, probably dating to the 14th century. “The floor of the transept crossing has revealed remains of remarkable scientific quality,” French culture minister Roselyne Bachelot said in a statement, according to Reuters.

The investigators also unearthed fragments of painted sculptures that were likely part of a rood screen, an ornate partition typically installed between a church’s chancel and nave. Other parts of the screen discovered during 18th-century renovations led by architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc are now part of the collection of the Louvre.

In addition, the excavation uncovered a pit beneath the cathedral floor that archaeologists believe would have been dug around 1230, during construction of the cathedral.

[SkyDancer]

Well then, it might be fun to open it. Maybe Hollyweird can make a movie.

[shadowlands1960]

You’d think it would be in their archives somewhere.

That was my first thought. It may still be in the clerical records, just not come to light yet. I would assume the records of Notre Dame are pretty extensive... The placement of the sarcophagus would seem to indicate this was someone intimately connected with the founding of the cathedral