Sacre Coeur Basilica, Paris – Famous Paris landmark

The Basilica of the Sacred Heart or the Basilique Sacre Coeur is a famous landmark in the nocturnal city of Paris; it is a Roman Catholic Church. This structure is located on the city’s highest point in Montmartre.

This site belongs to the 19th-century basilica and it is traditionally linked to the Saint Denis’s beheading in the third century. Denis was the patron of the city. Legend says that he was martyred and Bishop Denis carried his severed head to several miles in the north. This is where the suburb of Saint-Denis is located.

France was defeated by Prussians in the 1870 Franco-Prussian War. The Sacré-Coeur Basilica was then offered as a guilt to the communes and also to gain their vote of confidence for curing the French misfortunes. This church was devoted to Sacred Heart of Jesus; it was a cult which became really popular after 1873. The first pilgrimage was set up in Burgundy to Paray-le-Monial. Christ’s sacred heart encouraging prayer revelations were reported here in the 17th century.

Basilique Sacré-Coeur’s foundation stone was first laid in the year 1875. The structure was declared sacred in the year 1891 and the construction was completed in 1914. After the First World War ended, the Basilique Sacré-Coeur was then given the basilica status in 1919. This building has a lot in common with the Basilica Notre-Dame de Fourviere, located in Lyon.

Basilique Sacre Coeur was made by Paul Abadie and he used a Romanesque-Byzantine architectural theme. The basilica was inspired by St-Front located in Perigueux or Dordogne. It is a multi domed church built on a Roman theme. Sacré-Coeur has three arched portico and it is surmounted by 2 bronze statues of local saints – King Saint Louis IX, and Joan of Arc. The statues are designed by Hippolyte Lefebvre.

Savoyarde, the great bell, too has nationalist references. France annexed Savoy in 1860 and the bell is one of the worlds heaviest, weighing in at 19 tons. The basilica is made up of Seine-et-Marne or Château-Landon stone. It is a frost-resistant travertine which bleaches through the ages to gleaming white color. There are big bronze doors to the main portal and it has foliage designs.

On the inside, the Basilique Sacre Coeur is dim and quite gloomy. The only exception here is the golden mosaics which glow from the apse. The Greek cross has a large dome of 83m height and it is located over the crossing.