The Basilica of Sacré-Coeur

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The Basilica of Sacré-Coeur

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Getting to Sacré-Coeur For those who don't want to brave the steps, there is a funicular which takes you to just before the front doors. © Masino Tips RF - age fotostock

See more pictures: The Basilica of Sacré-Coeur

The Basilique du Sacré-Coeur (Basilica of the Sacred Heart) is one of the great landmarks of Paris, its white marble domes gleaming high above the city on the Butte Montmartre. Construction on it began as a result of France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War and the repression of the Commune (1871), when French Catholics vowed to erect a church on the hill of Montmartre as a symbol of contrition and hope. The proposal was approved by the National Assembly in 1873, and the architect Paul Abadie and his team began work in 1876, and the church was completed in 1911 and dedicated in 1919. The Romanesque/Byzantine style of was modeled on the church of Saint-Front in Périgueux. The choir is decorated with a large mosaic of Christ with a flaming heart, with the Archangel Michael and Joan of Arc to his one side, and Louis XVI and his family to the other. It's hard to decide what's more amazing about Sacre-Coeur, the view of the basilica itself, or the view of Paris from the high mount on which it was built. From the wide steps leading up to the church, which are thronged in spring and summer with street performers and picnicking couples, you can see all of Paris, with Notre-Dame straight ahead, the Centre Pompidou in front of it, to the right the Opéra-Garnier, and beyond this the Dôme des Invalides. There is even a map of the major monuments and their placements in the city, and binoculars so you can get a better look.

Pl. du Parvis-du-Sacré-Coeur, Montmartre, Paris
01-53-41-89-00
Cost: Free; dome 5 euro
Hours: Basilica daily 6 am-11 pm; dome and crypt Oct.-Mar., daily 9-6; Apr.-Sept., daily 9-7

Metro: Anvers, plus funicular.
www.sacre-coeur-montmartre.com.