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| 1269 The Basilica of Sacré-Cœur |
Posted on 05.10.2014, 13.09.2016
Located at the summit of the butte Montmartre, the highest point in Paris, The Basilica of Sacré-Cœur is a double monument, political and cultural, both a national penance for the defeat of France in the Franco-Prussian War and the socialist Paris Commune of 1871, and an embodiment of conservative moral order, publicly dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which was an increasingly popular vision of a loving and sympathetic Christ. Architect Paul Abadie designed the basilica after winning a competition over 77 other architects, and the foundation stone was finally laid 16 June 1875.
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| 2750 The Basilica of Sacré-Cœur and the Place du Tertre |
The overall style of the structure shows a free interpretation of Romano-Byzantine features, an unusual architectural vocabulary at the time. Many design elements of the basilica symbolise nationalist themes: the portico, with its three arches, is adorned by two equestrian statues of French national saints Joan of Arc (1927) and King Saint Louis IX, both executed in bronze by Hippolyte Lefebvre; and the nineteen-ton Savoyarde bell (one of the world's heaviest), cast in 1895 in Annecy, alludes to the annexation of Savoy in 1860.
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