I realized
that, after a few years of blogging, I have not made a real reference post about the
Sacré Coeur Basilica. Well, one reason is of course that it’s the only Catholic
Church in Paris where photos of the inside are not allowed. (The reason seems
to be that the church is devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which puts it on
another sacred scale than the churches devoted to just “normal” saints etc…)
You may
today be a bit perplexed when you learn that the official reason for building
the church was to “expiate the crimes of the Commune” (the revolutionary
government of Paris in 1871). This created several years of controversy between
different political and religious parties and movements. Today, the church is
rather (or also?) considered to be dedicated to the 58.000 victims of the Franco-Prussian
war 1870-71. Mainly financed by support from parishes throughout France, it
took a few decades before it was finished, from the foundation stone in 1875
to the completion in 1914 – during WWI. It was officially dedicated only after
the war, in 1919.
We should
know that the surprising architecture is due to Paul Abadie, who died well
before the completion of the building.
So, no photos from the inside here, but a selection of photos taken from different places in Paris under different skies. Thanks to its place on the top of Montmartre, the basilica is visible from almost everywhere.
Posts
