The basilica of the Sacre Coeur (the holy heart) is situated on the top of the hill of Montmartre and it towers above the city of Paris.
The construction of this famous church was decided on the 23 July 1973 to expiate the faults and the crimes of the Parisian Commune and to pay homage to the memory of the French citizens who died during the Franco-Prussian war.
The architect Paul Abadie won the contest for the construction of the church.
The first stone was laid on the 16 June 1975. The construction of the church was performed with the direct participation of the government of the third republic to celebrate the creation of a new period.

However the works of construction were terminated only in 1914 after the end of the First World War. The basilica of the Sacre Coeur is one of the most visited monuments of Paris.
Its structure develops following a Greek cross form, decorated by four domes; the central one, 80 meters high, is overtopped by a colonnade.
The architectural style of the church reminds the roman and byzantine architecture and it has inspired many other religious buildings of the XX century.
Inside the church, the roof of the apse is characterized by one of the biggest mosaic in the world covering a total surface of 475 m².
Conceived by Luc-Olivier Merson, from 1900 to 1922, the mosaic represents the holy heart of Jesus glorified by the catholic Church and by France.

The belfry of the basilica of the Holy Heart keeps the biggest bell of the whole France. Named the Savoyard, this bell has been created at Annecy in 1895 by the Paccard brothers who offered them to the Holy Heart basilica. It is possible to access to the Holy Heart church by foot (walking a lot of steps) or by the comfortable funicular of Montmartre. The organ of the basilica has been made by the famous constructor Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, in 1898, for the castle of the baron of L'Espée. When the baron died the elegant instrument was moved to the Holy Heart and it was inaugurated in 1919.

Hours:
The funicular of Montmartre is open from 6h45 a.m. to 11h p.m.
The crypt and the dome are open from 9h a.m. to 6h p.m.
The basilica is open everyday from 06h45 a.m. to 10h30 p.m.


For more information:
www.sacre-coeur-montmartre.com