While it is not the largest cathedral in the world, the Notre-Dame Cathedral might well be the most famous one. The Gothic masterpiece is located on the Île de la Cité, a small island in the historical heart of the city.The site of the Notre-Dame Cathedral is the cradle of Paris and has always been the religious center of the city. The Celts had their sacred ground here, and a pillar from a Roman temple of Jupiter was found on this spot.A first Christian church was built here as early as in the fourth century. In the sixth century it was enlarged into a Christian basilica, which was later turned into a cathedral dedicated to Saint Stephen. The last religious structure before the Notre-Dame construction started was a Romanesque cathedral. In the early 12th century Paris experienced rapid population growth so the need for a larger cathedral was obvious to the Bishop of Paris Maurice de Sully, who initiated construction of a new cathedral in 1163, which he dedicated to Our Lady (Notre Dame in French). The cathedral was to be built in the new Gothic style and had to reflect Paris’s status as the capital of the Kingdom of France.