In the nooks and crannies of one of the towers of the great cathedral, a long-decaying hand traced the word "rock" in Greek. Then the word itself disappeared. But from it was born a book about a gypsy, a hunchback and a priest.

On January 6, 1482, on the occasion of the feast of baptism in the Palace of Justice, they give the mystery "The Righteous Judgment of the Most Holy Virgin Mary." A huge crowd gathers in the morning. Ambassadors from Flanders and Cardinal Bourbon are welcome to the sight. Gradually, the audience begins to murmur, and the schoolchildren are most furious: among them the sixteen-year-old blond devil Jeanne stands out - the brother of the learned archdeacon Claude Frollo. The nervous author of the mystery Pierre Gringoire orders to begin. But the unfortunate poet is not lucky; as soon as the actors uttered a prologue, a cardinal appears, and then ambassadors. Citizens from the Flemish city of Ghent are so colorful that Parisians stare only at them. General admiration is caused by the hosiery master Kopinol, who, without mending, speaks in a friendly manner with the disgusting beggar Klopen Truylf. To Gringoire’s horror, the accursed Flemish honors his mystery with the last words and offers to do a much more fun thing - to elect a clownish dad. He will be the one who makes the most terrible grimace. Applicants for this high title stick their faces out of the chapel's window. The winner is Quasimodo, the bell ringer of Notre Dame Cathedral, which does not need to grimace, he is so ugly. The monstrous hunchback is tied up in an absurd mantle and carried off on his shoulders in order to walk through the city streets according to custom. Gringoire is already hoping for the continuation of the ill-fated play, but then someone screams that Esmeralda is dancing in the square - and blows away all the remaining spectators with the wind. In a longing, Gringoire wanders to Grevskaya Square to look at this Esmeralda, and an indescribably charming girl appears to his eyes - either a fairy or an angel, who, however, turned out to be a gypsy. Gringoire, like all the spectators, is completely enchanted by the dancer, but the gloomy face of a still not old, but bald man stands out in the crowd: he viciously accuses the girl of witchcraft - after all, her white goat kicks a tambourine six times in response to the question which today number. When Esmeralda begins to sing, a woman's voice full of frenzied hatred is heard - the recluse of the Roland Tower curses the gypsy spawn. At this moment, a procession enters Grevskaya Square, in the center of which Quasimodo flaunts. A bald man rushes to him, frightening the gypsy, and Gringoire recognizes his teacher of sealants - Claude Frollo's father. He tears the tiara from the hunchback, tears the mantle to pieces, breaks the staff - the terrible Quasimodo falls to his knees in front of him. A day full of spectacles is coming to an end, and Gringoire wanders without a special hope for a gypsy. Suddenly he heard a piercing scream: two men are trying to squeeze Esmeralda's mouth. Pierre calls the guard, and a dazzling officer appears - the chief of the royal shooters. One of the abductors is seized - this is Quasimodo. The gypsy does not take rapt eyes from her savior - captain Phoebus de Château.

Fate brings the ill-fated poet to the Court of Miracles - the kingdom of the poor and thieves. A stranger is seized and led to the Altin King, in which Pierre, to his surprise, recognizes Klopen Truylf. The local customs are harsh: you need to remove the purse from a stuffed animal with bells, so that they do not ring - a loop awaits the loser. Gringoire, who made a real peal, is dragged onto the gallows, and only a woman can save him - if there is one that she wants to take as husband. Nobody would have looked at the poet, and he would have swayed on the crossbar if Esmeralda had not released him out of kindness. The emboldened Gringoire tries to claim marital rights, but the fragile singer has a small dagger in this case - in front of the amazed Pierre, the dragonfly turns into a wasp. The ill-fated poet lays on a lean litter, for he has nowhere to go.

The next day, the kidnapper of Esmeralda faces trial. In 1482, the disgusting hunchback was twenty years old, and his benefactor Claude Frollo was thirty-six. Sixteen years ago, a small freak was put on the porch of the cathedral, and only one person took pity on him. Having lost his parents during the terrible plague, Claude remained with breast Jeanne in his arms and fell in love with a passionate, faithful love. Perhaps the thought of his brother made him pick up an orphan whom he named Quasimodo. Claude fed him, taught him to write and read, put him to the bells, so Quasimodo, who hated all people, was dog-like devoted to the archdeacon. Perhaps he only loved the Cathedral - his home, his homeland, his universe. That is why he unquestioningly complied with the order of his savior - and now he had to answer for it. Deaf Quasimodo gets to the deaf judge, and it ends in disastrous life - he is sentenced to lashes and a shameful pillar. The hunchback does not understand what is happening until they begin to smack him under the hooting of the crowd. The flour does not end there: after scourging, the good townspeople shower him with stones and ridicule. He hoarsely asks for a drink, but they respond with bursts of laughter. Suddenly Esmeralda appears in the square. Seeing the culprit of his misfortunes, Quasimodo is ready to incinerate her with a look, and she fearlessly climbs the stairs and brings a flask of water to his lips. Then a tear rolls across the ugly physiognomy - a fickle crowd applauds "a majestic spectacle of beauty, youth and innocence, who came to the aid of the embodiment of ugliness and anger." Only the recluse of the Roland Tower, barely noticing Esmeralda, bursts with curses.

A few weeks later, in early March, Captain Phoeb de Châteauper was gracious with his fiancée Fleur-de-Lys and her friends. Fun for the sake of the girl decides to invite a pretty gypsy girl to the house who dances on Cathedral Square. They quickly repent of their intention, for Esmeralda overshadows them all with grace and beauty. She herself is inseparably looking at the captain, puffed up with complacency. When the goat adds the word “Phoebe” out of letters - apparently familiar to her, Fleur-de-Lis faints, and Esmeralda is immediately expelled. She attracts eyes: from one window of the cathedral Quasimodo looks at her with admiration, from another - Claude Frollo sullenly contemplates. Next to the gypsy, he spotted a man in a yellow-red leotard - before, she always performed alone. Going down, the archdeacon recognizes his apprentice Pierre Gringoire, who disappeared two months ago. Claude eagerly asks about Esmeralda: the poet says that this girl is a charming and harmless creature, a true child of nature. She keeps chastity, because she wants to find parents through the amulet - and that supposedly helps only virgins. Everyone loves her for her cheerful disposition and kindness. She herself believes that in the whole city she has only two enemies - the recluse of the Roland Tower, who for some reason hates the gypsies, and some priest who constantly persecutes her. With the help of a tambourine, Esmeralda teaches her goat magic tricks, and there is no sorcery in them - it took only two months to teach her to add the word “Phoebe”. The archdeacon becomes extremely agitated - and on the same day he hears his brother Jeanne friendlyly hail the captain of the royal shooters by name. He follows the young hangers into the tavern. Phoebe gets drunk a little less than a schoolboy, because he has an appointment with Esmeralda. The girl is so in love that she is ready to sacrifice even an amulet - since she has Phoebe, why does she need a father and mother? The captain begins to kiss the gypsy, and at that moment she sees the dagger brought over him. The face of the hated priest appears in front of Esmeralda: she loses consciousness - when she wakes up, she hears from all sides that the witch stabbed the captain.

A month passes. Gringoire and the Courtyard of Miracles are in terrible alarm - Esmeralda has disappeared. Once Pierre sees a crowd at the Palace of Justice - he is told that they are judging the devil who killed the military man. The gypsy stubbornly denies everything, despite the evidence - the demonic goat and the demon in the cassock of the priest, whom many witnesses saw. But she can’t stand the torture with a Spanish boot - she admits to witchcraft, prostitution and the murder of Phoebus de Châteaupera. Based on the totality of these crimes, she is sentenced to repentance at the portal of Notre Dame, and then to hang. The goat should be subjected to the same execution. Claude Frollo comes to the casemate, where Esmeralda is looking forward to death. He begs on her knees to flee with him: she turned his life upside down, until he met her, he was happy - innocent and pure, lived only by science and fell, having seen the marvelous beauty that was not created for human eyes. Esmeralda rejects both the love of the hated priest and the salvation offered by him. In response, he angrily screams that Phoebe is dead. However, Phoebe survived, and the fair-haired Fleur de Lys again settled in his heart. On the day of execution, lovers gently coo, looking curiously out the window - a jealous bride is the first to recognize Esmeralda. The gypsy, seeing the beautiful Phoebe, falls without feelings: at this moment Quasimodo picks her up and rushes into the Cathedral with the cry of "refuge". The crowd greets the hunchback with enthusiastic screams - this roar reaches the Grevskaya Square and the Roland Tower, where the hermit does not take her eyes off the gallows. The victim slipped away, taking refuge in the church.

Esmeralda lives in the Cathedral, but cannot get used to the terrible hunchback. Not wanting to annoy her with her ugliness, the deaf gives her a whistle - he is able to hear this sound. And when the archdeacon pounced on the gypsy, Quasimodo almost kills him in the dark - only a ray of the month saves Claude, who begins to be jealous of Esmeralda to the ugly ringer. At his instigation, Gringoire raises the Court of Miracles - the poor and thieves storm the Cathedral, wanting to save the gypsy. Quasimodo is desperately defending his treasure - young Jean Frollo dies at his hands. Meanwhile, Grenguar’tayk takes Esmeralda out of the Cathedral and involuntarily hands it over to Claude, who carries her away to Grevskaya Square, where he offers his love for the last time. There is no salvation: the king himself, upon learning of the riot, ordered to find and hang the sorceress. The gypsy in horror recoils from Claude, and then he drags her to the Roland tower - the recluse, sticking his hand out from behind the bars, grabs the unhappy girl tightly, and the priest runs after the guards. Esmeralda begs to let her go, but Pauchtta Chantflery only laughs viciously in response - the gypsies stole her daughter, let her offspring die now. She shows the girl the embroidered shoe of her little daughter - in Esmeralda’s cuff, she’s exactly the same. The recluse almost loses her mind with joy - she has found her child, although she has already lost all hope. Too late, the mother and daughter recall the danger: Paktta is trying to hide Esmeralda in his cell, but in vain - the girl is dragged to the gallows, In the last desperate impulse, the mother bites her teeth into the executioner's hand - she is thrown off and she falls dead. From the height of the Cathedral, the archdeacon looks at Grevskaya Square. Quasimodo, who had already suspected Claude of kidnapping Esmeralda, sneaks behind him and recognizes a gypsy - they put a loop around her neck. When the executioner jumps onto the girl’s shoulders and the executed body begins to beat in terrible convulsions, the priest’s face is distorted with laughter - Quasimodo does not hear him, but he sees a satanic grin in which there is already nothing human. And he pushes Claude into the abyss. Esmeralda is on the gallows, and the archdeacon, prostrated at the foot of the tower, is all that the poor hunchback loved.