The first phase began with the construction of the choir and its two ambulatories.

According to Robert of Torigni, the choir was completed in 1177 and the high altar
consecrated on 19 May 1182 by Cardinal Henri de Château-Marçay, the Papal legate in
Paris, and Maurice de Sully.[22] The second phase, from 1182 to 1190, concerned the
construction of the four sections of the nave behind the choir and its aisles to
the height of the clerestories. It began after the completion of the choir but
ended before the final allotted section of the nave was finished. Beginning in
1190, the bases of the façade were put in place, and the first traverses were
completed.[6] Heraclius of Caesarea called for the Third Crusade in 1185 from the
still-incomplete cathedral.
Louis IX deposited the relics of the passion of Christ, which included the Crown of
Thorns, a nail from the Cross and a sliver of the Cross, which he had purchased at
great expense from the Latin Emperor Baudouin II, in the cathedral during the
construction of the Sainte-Chapelle.
The decision was made to add a transepts at the choir, where the altar was located,
in order to bring more light into the center of the church. The use of simpler
four-part rather than six-part rib vaults meant that the roofs were stronger and
could be higher. After Bishop Maurice de Sully's death in 1196, his successor,
Eudes de Sully oversaw the completion of the transepts, and continued work on the
nave, which was nearing completion at the time of his own death in 1208. By this
time, the western façade was already largely built, though it was not completed
until around the mid-1240s. Between 1225 and 1250 the upper gallery of the nave was
constructed, along with the two towers on the west façade.[23]