Xi sends condolences to French president over Notre Dame fire

It was at Notre-Dame that Henry VI of England was crowned "King of France" in 1431, that Napoleon was made emperor in 1804, and Pope Pius X beatified Joan of Arc in 1909. Presidents Charles de Gaulle and Francois Mitterrand were mourned there.

Messages of condolence flooded in from around the world.

Pope Francis, the leader of the Catholic Church, was praying for those affected, the Vatican said, adding: "Notre-Dame will always remain - and we have seen this in these hours - a place where believers and non-believers can come together in the most dramatic moments of French history."

Britain's Queen Elizabeth expressed deep sadness while her son and heir Prince Charles said he was "utterly heartbroken". Chancellor Angela Merkel offered German help to rebuild a part of "our common European heritage".

VOW TO REBUILD

French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday committed to rebuilding Notre-Dame cathedral within five years.

"We will rebuild Notre Dame even more beautifully and I want it to be completed in five years, we can do it," Macron said in a television address to the nation.

"It is up to us to change this disaster into an opportunity to come together, having deeply reflected on what we have been and what we have to be and become better than we are. It is up to us to find the thread of our national project."

Considered among the finest examples of European Gothic architecture, Notre-Dame is visited by more than 13 million people a year. It sits on an island in the Seine, overlooking the Left Bank hangouts of Ernest Hemingway and Pablo Picasso.

"Notre-Dame de Paris is the cathedral of the people, of the people of Paris, of the French people, of the people of the world. It is part of those references of our history, of what we have in common, of what we share," said Interior Minister Christophe Castaner.

The cathedral is owned by the state and has been at the center of a years-long row between the nation and the Paris archdiocese over who should finance restoration work to collapsed balustrades, crumbling gargoyles and cracked facades.

Within 24 hours, companies and local authorities had pledged more than 700 million euros to rebuild it, including 500 million from the three billionaire families that own France's giant luxury goods empires: Kering, LVMH and L'Oreal.