The crypt of the Cathedral Notre Dame de Paris opened to the public in 1980. To create this underground Museum came about by accident: in 1965 under the Cathedral began construction of a Parking lot, and builders stumbled upon some ancient times. Until 1972 excavations were carried out here, which gave amazing results. Archaeologists have discovered and preserved ruins of buildings that were built since ancient times. Thus, the crypt of the Cathedral is now something of a time machine that allows travel through the centuries.

The term "crypt" in Western architecture called underground vaulted room, located under the altar or Church choirs. Generally, these premises were used for the burial of the relics of saints and martyrs. On Ile de La Cité they are under the porch of the Cathedral, and they are called "the crypt of the Parvis Notre-Dame de Paris". In the course of another name, the Archaeological crypt.

Dungeon runs under the Cathedral at 120 meters. Here you can see the true remains of the Gallo-Roman era streets of Augustus – a contemporary of Christ. Well preserved ingenious underground heating system of buildings used by the Romans. Lutetium, what was the name of the settlement, has gained particular importance in the third to fifth centuries ad: a town, named Parisi, became a Roman Outpost for the barbarians. The island has produced strong fortifications – the masonry of the fortress wall that surrounded the city in the III century, can be considered in detail. On a modern map of Paris you can discover the ancient baths, the forum, the amphitheatre – the shadow of Paris antique.

Rapid construction was carried out on a Sieve and in the middle ages. Its center was, of course, the Cathedral, whose construction began in 1163 and ended in 1345. The medieval buildings have not survived to our days – in the eighteenth century many of them were demolished for the construction of roads. Picture completed a radical restructuring of the city when the Baron Haussmann, during which killed many old buildings. Now in the crypt you can see a detailed layout of the old, bygone Paris – they help to understand how century after century there was a development of the French capital.