Notre Dame Cathedral.?

Travel Info
What can you tell me about the Notre Dame Cathedral? What is it used for today? What different purposes has it served over the years? What makes it such a well known tourist attraction? Any interesting facts you can tell me are GREAT!. THANKS!

Travel Tips

First of all, Notre Dame is an architectural masterpiece(the best example of flying buttresses). The famous stained glass windows can be found no where else.
It is still used as a Catholic Church today and Masses are said everyday. There are many side altars where famous people are buried, or honored. Napolean was crowned Emperor there. It is one of the few places that the Germans did not destroy during WW2
Others

You could read more details about Notre Dame on the wikipedia article cited below.

Notre Dame de Paris was one of the first Gothic cathedrals and was among the first buildings in the world to use the flying buttress.

Today most French Catholic religious events of national significance take place in Notre Dame.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/notre_dame_...
The Gothic loftiness of Notre-Dame dominates the Seine and the Ile-de-la-Cit茅 as well as the history of Paris. On the spot where this majestic cathedral now stands, the Romans had built a temple to Jupiter, which was followed by a Christian basilica and then a Romanesque church (the Cathedral of St. Etienne, founded by Childebert in 528).

Maurice de Sully, bishop of Paris, decided to build a new cathedral for the expanding population, dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Although construction started in 1163, it was not completed until roughly 180 years later in about 1345. Built in an age of illiteracy, the cathedral retells the stories of the Bible in its portals, paintings, and stained glass.

On completion of the choir in 1183, work was begun on the nave and completed c.1208, followed by the west front and towers c.1225-1250. A series of chapels were added to the nave during the period 1235-50, and to the apse during 1296-1330 (Pierre de Chelles and Jean Ravy). Transept crossings were built in 1250-67 by Jean de Chelles and Pierre de Montreuil (also the architect of the Sainte-Chapelle). The six-part rib vaults and the thin elements articulating the wall are typically Early Gothic.