SACRÉ-CŒUR/BASILIQUE DU SACRÉ-CŒUR

CONSTRUCTION BEGAN IN 1875 AND WAS FINISHED IN 1914

PAUL ABADIE

FUN FACTS

• Sacré-Cœur means Sacred-Heart in English and is a reference to the heart of Jesus.
• A group of influential people wanted to build the basilica and had two good reasons to do so. Firstly, a National Vow was made to build a church if Paris escaped untouched from the war with the Prussians army in 1870-1871. Secondly, the defeat of the French army in 1871 was interpreted as a moral condemnation of the sins of Paris.
• Authorized by the National Assembly in 1873, the project was to build an imposing Christian church visible from all over Paris.

FUN FACTS

• The Sacrè-Cœur was built on the hill of Montmartre at an altitude of 130 meters above sea level.
• The bell tower and the dome both reach 83 meters high.
• The Sacrè-Cœur is the second highest point is Paris after the Eiffel Tower.
• The Sacrè-Cœur is 213 meters high.