Memorial · 1924
Notre-Dame
Address · Parvis Notre-Dame, 75004 Paris
Metro · Cité (4)
Today · Free access. Reopened since December 2024.
The story
Notre-Dame Cathedral, built on the Île de la Cité from the 12th century onwards, has come down through the centuries as one of the great Gothic sanctuaries of Europe. Restored to worship in 1802 after the Revolution, it hosted on 2 December 1804 the coronation of Napoleon, who crowned himself in the presence of Pope Pius VII before crowning Joséphine. Victor Hugo's novel, published in 1831, drew public attention to the state of the building; the restoration, decided in 1843 and begun in 1845 under the direction of Lassus and Viollet-le-Duc, then of the latter alone after 1857, restored the sculptures, the gargoyles and the spire torn down in 1792.
In April 1924, Crowley was going through a difficult period. Having arrived from Nice on 5 January, he was lodging at the Hôtel de Blois, rue Vavin, often ill, penniless, forced in March to pawn his belongings to send his disciple Norman Mudd to London. Leah Hirsig, his companion and assistant at the Abbey of Thelema in Cefalù, joined him on the morning of 29 March. On 8 April he noted the twentieth anniversary of the dictation of the first chapter of The Book of the Law.
It is in this context that the Aleister Crowley Timeline records, on 22 April 1924, a visit to Notre-Dame with Leah Hirsig, with no further detail on what they did there. A week later, on 1 May, the couple were evicted from the Hôtel de Blois for unpaid rent; that same day Crowley wrote “The Blackguard and the Sage”, and Leah is recorded at 6 rue Jolia from 3 May.
The cathedral was severely damaged by the fire of 15 April 2019, which brought down Viollet-le-Duc's spire. After five years of work involving some 250 companies, it solemnly reopened on 7 December 2024 and has welcomed worshippers and visitors again since the following day. From the parvis, one can see the west front and its sculpted portals.