From “apocalypse to resurrection”, a “dazzling” Notre-Dame finally opened its doors to the world on Friday with the first images of its restored interior five years after the cathedral was ravaged by fire.

Emmanuel Macron pledged to rebuild the stricken Gothic masterpiece that lost its wooden spire, famed Medieval “forest” of beams and parts of its remarkable vaulted ceiling in the blaze that shocked the world.

Many claimed that the president’s five-year deadline would prove impossible to honour but the timing was respected and the 850-year-old iconic monument will be reopened for worship on Dec 8. Half of the French population intend to visit it, according to one poll.

Some €846 million (£704 million) in donations poured in from 150 countries in an unprecedented surge of solidarity, the “biggest such philanthropic effort in history”, according to Alexandre Giuglaris, head of the French heritage foundation.

The 19th-century gothic spire has now been resurrected with an exact copy of the original, the stained windows have regained their colour, the walls shining after fire stains cleaned and a restored organ ready to blast forth hymns to the faithful.