  The paper concerns an experimental study on the wind pressures over the
surface of a worldwide known Gothic Cathedral: Notre Dame of Paris. The
experimental tests have been conducted in the CRIACIV wind tunnel, Prato
(Italy), on a model of the Cathedral at the scale 1:200 reproducing the
atmospheric boundary layer. Two types of tests have been conducted: with or
without the surrounding modeling the part of the city of Paris near the
Cathedral. This has been done, on the one hand, for evaluating the effect of
the surrounding buildings onto the wind pressure distribution on the Cathedral,
and, on the other hand, to have a wind pressure distribution plausible for any
other Cathedral with a similar shape. The tests have been done for all the wind
directions and the mean and peak pressures have been recorded. The results
emphasize that the complex geometry of this type of structures is responsible
for a peculiar aerodynamic behavior that does not allow estimating correctly
the wind loads on the various parts of the Cathedral based on codes and
standards, which are tailored for ordinary regular buildings.
