In pictures: The renaissance of Notre-Dame five years after devastating blaze

Five years after Parisians watched in horror as flames ravaged Notre-Dame, world leaders will set foot in the restored cathedral on Saturday evening.

While the reopening of Notre-Dame will be held on the second weekend of Advent, celebrations will span to Pentecost on June 8.

The landmark cathedral is one of the world's most visited monuments. 

Five years after Parisians watched in horror as flames ravaged Notre Dame. This weekend, they will be able to visit it for the first time since then. Photo: Julio Piatti

The devastating fire broke out on April 15, 2019, in the roof space of the medieval Catholic cathedral.

By the time the fire was extinguished, the cathedral's wooden spire had collapsed, most of the wooden roof was destroyed and the upper walls were damaged.

Reopening celebrations will span from December to June of next year. Photo: Julio Piatti

While most works of art and relics were moved to safety, some suffered smoke damage.

Part of the exterior art was also damaged or destroyed.

The restored organ. Photo: Trung Hieu Do

The apocalyptic images were seen by some as a sign of the demise of Western civilisation, with the 850-year-old wonder saved from complete collapse only by the heroic intervention of firefighters.

Battling smoke and the risk of falling debris, they formed a human chain with church officials to evacuate the most precious artefacts and religious treasures, helping preserve most of the cathedral's irreplaceable contents.

Others saw divine intervention in how a copper statue of a rooster that had sat atop the building's incinerated 19th-century spire was found afterwards intact amid the scorched rubble.

A small piece of the Crown of Thorns supposedly worn by Jesus before his crucifixion - also survived, and the battered rooster is now on display in a Paris museum.

The medieval statue of the Virgin Mary and Child, known as the 'Virgin of Paris'. Photo: Pascal Lemaître

Restored chapel at the cathedral. Photo: Julio Piatti

Restored chapel at the cathedral. Photo: Julio Piatti

The opening ceremony will feature prayer, organ music and hymns from the cathedral's choir, followed by the televised concert with performances by Chinese piano virtuoso Lang Lang, South African opera singer Pretty Yende and possibly US singer and fashion designer Pharrell Williams.

On Sunday, the first mass with 170 bishops and more than 100 Paris priests will take place at 0930 GMT, followed by a second service in the evening which will be open to the public.

The tabernacle in the heart of Notre Dame cathedral. Photo: Julio Piatti

The vaulted ceiling. Photo: Julio Piatti

Cause unknown

The chief Paris prosecutor at the time of the fire, Remy Heitz, said shortly after the inferno that he believed that an accident such as an electrical fault or a cigarette butt was the most likely cause.

The most notable of Notre-Dame's stained-glass are its rose windows. Photo: Julio Piatti

Some of the workers renovating the roof at the time of the fire were known to have smoked on site, but investigators have never been able to pinpoint the exact starting point.

Speculation about an arson attack has been investigated during five years of forensic analysis, but no evidence was found.

The current chief Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said in April that "the closer we have got to the spot the fire started, and the more results of analyses come back, the more weight is lent to the theory of an accident."

Fee row

Culture Minister Rachida Dati has proposed that visitors to the restored cathedral pay a five-euro entry ticket, with the funds set to be routed to some 4,000 churches in need of repairs around France.

The Pieta statue by Nicolas Coustou. Photo: Étienne Castelein

Charging for entry - entering Notre-Dame was previously free - would bring the tourist attraction into line with St Paul's Cathedral in London or Milan's Duomo.

But senior French church leaders have criticised the idea.

One senior bishop saying churches and cathedrals had "always been places open to all" and making money from visitors would be a "betrayal of their original vocation".

The French state owns Notre-Dame and has the final say.

The facade of the medieval Catholic cathedral. Photo: Yannick Boschat

The rose windows are set in the north, south, and west facades of the cathedral. Photo: Julio Piatti

The cathedral is a widely recognised symbol of the city of Paris and the French nation. Photo: Julio Piatti

Photos provided by the French Ministry for Foreign Affairs.