Interior of fire-damaged Notre Dame cathedral

Fire at the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris claimed its spire and roof, but spared its bell towers and the purported Crown of Christ. A pile of wooden beams on the floor and a huge hole in the burnt-out roof of the cathedral was seen after fire had engulfed it.

Paris: A pile of wooden beams on the floor and a huge hole in the burnt-out roof of Paris' Notre Dame cathedral could be seen on Tuesday.

Firefighters declared success in a more than 12-hour battle to extinguish an inferno engulfing Paris' iconic cathedral that claimed its spire and roof, but spared its bell towers and the purported Crown of Christ.

The cathedral's roof was built using a lattice of giant beams cut from trees in primeval forests in the 12th and 13th centuries.

Experts say France no longer has trees big enough to replace the ancient wooden beams that burned in the fire.