The more than 400 firefighters that battled the blaze and kept the bell towers and the rest of the building intact saved a number of artworks and relics, and those will be moved to the Louvre; the artworks and relics had been at Paris City Hall for safekeeping.

A day after the fire, exactly 24 hours after it started, cathedrals around the country tolled their bells in honor of the famed central cathedral. A ceremony in Paris featured readings from Victor Hugo's famed novel Notre-Dame de Paris, known in English as The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Within a day of the blaze, the book was atop France's online bestseller list.

Dozens of firefighters and security officials were still inspecting the interior and exterior of the 850-year-old cathedral. Found among the rubble was the spire's bronze rooster, a representation of the unofficial national symbol of the country. The rooster had fallen in the blaze and was dented but intact.

Donations for repairs have been pouring in, including from some of France's wealthiest citizens. Money has come in around from the world as well. Donations have topped $1 billion euros.

Earlier, President Emmanuel Macron had expressed a desire for the cathedral to be rebuilt in five years, which would coincide with the beginning of the 2024 Summer Olympics, in Paris. Officials say that the cathedral will be closed for at least that long. People who run businesses in the area around the famed cathedral are already signaling tough times ahead. Notre Dame boasted annual visits of more than 12 million people, many of whom would frequent the nearby restaurants and shops as well.

The centuries-old cathedral was built at the behest of Bishop of Paris Maurice de Sully, on the site of what is believed to have been a pagan temple and then a Romanesque church known as the Basilica of Saint étienne. Construction began in 1163, with the laying of the foundation stone by Pope Alexander III and completed nearly a century later, in 1260.