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Notre Dame Cathedral

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Picture: Riviera Radio

Notre Dame Cathedral - As repair work continues on the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris its’ been announced that there will not be a  Christmas Mass for the first time in more than 200 years. The 850-year-old Gothic cathedral, a Unesco World Heritage site, lost its spire and roof during the blaze in April. President Emmanuel Macron has set a five-year goal for its reconstruction. In October, the French culture ministry said nearly €1bn (£850m; $1.1bn) had been raised or pledged for the work.

The iconic building has celebrated Christmas Mass through two centuries of often turbulent history, only closing during the French revolution when anti-Catholic forces turned it briefly into "a temple of reason".