For the first time since the French Revolution there will be no Christmas mass at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, French officials confirmed.

The 855-year-old landmark is undergoing extensive restoration work after suffering severe damage in a devastating fire in April and is still too fragile to accommodate visitors.

“Since 1803, there have always been Christmas masses at Notre Dame,” said a Paris diocese spokesperson.

“It’s painful because we would have liked to celebrate Christmas at Notre Dame, but at the same time, there is also hope: we’re pressing ahead with the rebuilding.”

The midnight mass will instead take place at a nearby gothic church called Saint-Germain l’Auxerrois, where Notre Dame’s iconic statue of the Virgin and Child has been moved to.

Rebuilding efforts are expected to take until at least 2024, according to French president Emmanuel Macron, though limited services have already taken place within the cathedral.

Notre Dame before and after Show all 19 1 /19 Notre Dame before and after Notre Dame before and after The cathedral with the spire standing tall (left) and (right) after the fire AFP/Getty Notre Dame before and after As viewed from the Montparnasse Tower before the fire AFP/Getty Notre Dame before and after As viewed from the Montparnasse Tower after the fire AP Notre Dame before and after The heart and transept before and one day after the fire AFP/Getty Notre Dame before and after The nave of the cathedral before the fire Alamy Notre Dame before and after The nave of the cathedral after the fire Reuters Notre Dame before and after The rose window in the cathedral before the fire AFP/Getty Notre Dame before and after After the fire a hole has been exposed in the roof above the window Twitter Notre Dame before and after The cathedral from the Seine before and after Reuters Notre Dame before and after Inside the cathedral before the fire Reuters Notre Dame before and after The burning roof has left a hole in the nave Reuters Notre Dame before and after The nave after the fire was extinguished AP Notre Dame before and after Inside the cathedral after the fire Reuters Notre Dame before and after A view from the Seine of the cathedral before and after the fire Reuters Notre Dame before and after An aerial shot of Notre Dame before the fire AFP/Getty Notre Dame before and after An aerial shot of Notre Dame during the fire shows the wooden roof burning and collapsing AFP/Getty Notre Dame before and after Tourists gather near the cathedral and then seen afterwards Reuters Notre Dame before and after The spire of the cathedral is shown before and during the fire AFP/Getty Notre Dame before and after A scorched section of the exterior after the fire Reuters

The world-renowned cathedral has seen plenty of upheaval since its first stone was laid in 1163.

It halted services after revolutionaries overthrew the monarchy and declared Notre Dame “a temple of reason”, but resumed religious activities under Napoleon in 1803, according to cathedral officials.

It kept going during two world wars, and Nazi occupation. Soldiers guarded its Christmas mass in 2015, weeks after France’s deadliest-ever terror attacks.

(AP (AP)

A fund set up to rebuild Notre Dame after the fire raised close to €1bn (£855m), largely thanks to donations from billionaires.

The biggest donation of €200m came from France’s richest man Bernard Arnault, who some claimed was using the opportunity to claim massive tax breaks.

Mr Arnault dismissed these accusations as “petty”, adding that he made the contribution “for the general interest”.