Architectural fans don’t need to wait for the renovation of Paris’s Notre Dame Cathedral to be done in order to appreciate the building’s beauty. Now, people can build their own small-scale version, courtesy of Lego.
The new 4,383-piece Lego Architecture Notre-Dame de Paris ($229.99) recreates the cathedral’s ornate details, like its iconic rose windows, central spire, and bell towers. Lego designed the 13-inch model after the cathedral’s original design, which was severely damaged in a 2019 fire. The company even wrote building instructions mirroring the cathedral’s real-life construction steps (construction began in the twelfth century and finished in the fourteenth century).
“We tried to bring it to life by not only capturing its outward appearance, but the way and the stages in which the original was built,” Lego Group designer Rok Žgalin Kobe said in a statement. “We wanted Lego fans to retrace the architectural journey and evolution of this landmark during its construction, to encourage a deeper appreciation for its real-life counterpart.”
The Notre Dame kit is Lego’s first religious structure since it released a model church in 1957, and it’s also the most intricate set in its current Architecture lineup (the model of Japan’s Himeji Castle has about half as many pieces). It’s also the latest set for Francophiles (just in time for the Paris Olympics, no doubt). A recent $100 Mona Lisa set comes with a Lego frame, and there’s a $50 Paris skyline and nearly five-foot tall Eiffel Tower that costs $630 and is made from 10,001 pieces.