Notre-Dame de Paris
巴黎圣母院

Notre-Dame de Paris, also known as Notre-Dame Cathedral or simply Notre-Dame, is a historic Catholic cathedral on the eastern half of the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France. The cathedral is widely considered to be one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture and among the largest and most well-known church buildings in the world.
巴黎圣母院也称巴黎圣母院大教堂或简称为圣母院，是一座具有重要历史意义的天主教堂，位于法国巴黎第四区西岱岛的东半端。巴黎圣母院被公认为是法兰西地区哥特式建筑的代表作品之一，同时也是世界上最大、最负盛名的教堂建筑。

Notre-Dame de Paris was among the first buildings in the world to use the flying buttress (arched exterior supports). The building was not originally designed to include the flying buttresses around the choir and nave, but after the construction began, the thinner walls (popularized in the Gothic style) grew ever higher and stress fractures began to occur as the walls pushed outward. In response, the cathedral's architects built supports around the outside walls, and later additions continued the pattern.
巴黎圣母院是世界上最早一批使用飞拱(拱形的外部支撑物)的建筑物。它原本不打算在唱诗堂和中殿的四周使用飞拱，但开始施工以后，越往高处墙面越薄(这在哥特式建筑中非常常见)，随着墙壁不断向外延伸，墙面在重压之下就出现了裂缝。在这种情况下，巴黎圣母院的建筑师在外墙的四周添加了支撑物，此后的支撑物都是按照这种样式建造的。

The cathedral has ten bells. The largest, Emmanuel, original to 1681, is located in the south tower and weighs just over thirteen tons and is tolled to mark the hours of the day and for various occasions and services. The bells were once rung by hand before electric motors allowed them to be rung without manual labor. When it was discovered that the size of the bells could cause the entire building to vibrate, threatening its structural integrity, they were taken out of use.
巴黎圣母院有10座大钟。最大的一座钟名叫伊曼纽尔，它的历史可以追溯到1681年。伊曼纽尔坐落于南面的塔楼，重达13吨以上，在整点时或各种特殊场合及仪式会敲响。在电力发动机出现以前，这些钟都靠人工敲响。但当人们发现钟庞大的体积会使整座建筑震动而威胁到它的结构完整时，人们就放弃敲钟了。