Inside Notre Dame: Rubble, emptiness and an immense task ahead

Three months after a fire ravaged Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, a rare glimpse inside the burned masterpiece revealed it to be eerily empty and with rubble still littering the nave.

On Wednesday, journalists were given access to the 850-year-old World Heritage landmark.

Just three months ago, it would have been packed with worshippers and tourists admiring the Gothic architecture and famed stained-glass windows, which emerged largely unscathed from the inferno.

On Wednesday, instead of crowds, only a few dozen specialist workers wearing white protective overalls, hard hats and masks could be seen carrying out painstaking work to make the building safe.

Great protective nets have been hung to prevent objects falling from the roof and causing damage, and staff must guard against lead poisoning because of the contamination caused by the old melted roof.

An acrid smell still hangs in the air, while rows of untouched seats at the front of the cathedral are a reminder of what it looked like before the blaze, whose origins are still unknown.

The visit came a day after the French parliament finally passed a law on the reconstruction of the cathedral, which President Emmanuel Macron wants completed within the next five years.

The restoration work, which has not begun yet, will require replacing the roof, much of which was destroyed in the fire, and the spire, which collapsed to the ground.