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Firefighters have fully extinguished a catastrophic fire at Paris’s Notre Dame Cathedral that left a nation mourning the devastation of its cultural and historic “epicentre”.

Hundreds of firefighters tackled the historic blaze through the night, battling to stop it wreaking complete destruction of the treasured facade after flames torched the roof, sending its spire crashing to the ground before crowds of horrified Parisians.

Notre-Dame inferno: a history of Paris’s most-visited landmark

Meanwhile, teams raced to recover what treasures they could from the 850-year-old Gothic masterpiece, which housed priceless artefacts and relics of huge religious and international significance.

Fire fighers on the roof of the building. Picture: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire

The blaze, which broke out as the last crowds of tourists ended visits at around 6pm BST (7pm local time), was finally declared to be “completely under control” nearly nine hours later.

And on Tuesday morning firefighters in the French capital announced that the fire was fully extinguished.

Donations have poured in to rebuild the national monument, while French president Emmanuel Macron said a national subscription would be launched when he visited the scene on Monday night.

French tycoon Bernard Arnault and his luxury goods group LVMH have pledged 200 million euro (£173 million) towards the reconstruction of Notre Dame, following a reported 100 million euro (£86 million) donation from another French billionaire, Francois Pinault.

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Notre-Dame fire: Authorities say devastating blaze ‘fully extinguished’