Notre-Dame: Bells ring out across France in honour of cathedral after devastating fire
They began to toll at the time the flames broke out at the landmark - as its rector claims it will close for five to six years.
Thursday 18 April 2019 01:41, UK
Bells have been ringing out at cathedrals across France in honour of Notre-Dame following Monday's devastating fire.
They began to toll at 6.43pm local time (5.43pm UK time) - the moment the fire broke out, quickly engulfing the roof of the cathedral.
The monument is expected to remain close for "five to six years", its rector said.
Bishop Patrick Chauvet said "a segment of the cathedral has been very weakened" by the fire, but did not say which section he was talking about.
He was speaking to local business owners two days after the blaze that destroyed Notre-Dame's roof, sent its 300ft spire crashing through its famous ceiling and left it just minutes from total destruction.
He also said it was unclear what the church's 67 employees would be doing in the future.
A prominent French conservation architect has cast doubt on President Emmanuel Macron's demand that the reconstruction "be finished within five years".
Pierluigi Pericolo, who helped restore Nantes' 19th-century Saint-Donatien basilica, which was badly damaged by fire in 2015, said it would take "no less than 15 years ... it's a colossal task".
It could take between "two to five years" just to check the stability of the massive cathedral, Mr Pericolo told Inrocks magazine.
France's Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has launched a competition for international architects to restore the spire of the Paris landmark.
Mr Phillipe, speaking after a special cabinet meeting focusing on the reconstruction of the cathedral, said the competition is aimed at "giving Notre-Dame a spire adapted to techniques and challenges of our times".
He called it "a huge challenge, a historic responsibility".
The competition would "allow us to ask the question of whether we should even recreate the spire as it was conceived by Viollet-le-Duc," he said, or whether it should "endow Notre-Dame with a new spire".
There is no clear idea of the total cost of the renovation work, but more than €700m (£606m) has been pledged to repair the iconic Gothic landmark, boosted by promises of financial and expert help made by tycoons and international firms.
Notre-Dame was within "15 to 30" minutes of complete destruction during Monday's fire, according to junior interior minister Laurent Nunez.
Investigators trying to discover the cause of the fire have not been able to enter the oak-framed structure because it is still unsafe, the Paris prosecutor's office has said.
They spoke to around 30 witnesses on Tuesday, including employees of companies involved in the church's restoration and security personnel.
Work to gain access to the burned-out building is under way.
Firefighters have said the church's historic rose stained-glass windows are in good shape but that the structures supporting them are at risk.
They have been using a crane to hoist supports to stabilise a fire-ravaged pinnacle that houses one of the windows.
While there was no immediate danger that the centuries-old structure would collapse, officials said, statues were also being removed.