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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