The Sacre Coeur Basilica

1. Arrival
2. Nights
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The Sacre Coeur Basilica in Montmartre is a Catholic Church and small Basilica. The surrounding area has been the haunt of artists since the 1880s, and it has a distinctively bohemian atmosphere.

It probably isn’t as seedy as it used to be when Gauguin and Van Gogh hung about here painting street scenes, and getting thrown out of bars, but there’s still that certain ‘je ne sais quoi’ in the air. You’ll only find it in Paris, and it has something of the sweaty smell of old cheese and thick paint about it. Montmartre was named after the Mount of Martyrs, and the present day basilica, built in 1873, stands atop a hill that until then was home to a separate farming community.

The Basilica of the Sacred Heart was erected as a unique project by a small group of citizens during the Franco-Prussian War as a tribute to high Christian ideals in a time of decadence, as they saw it.

In a competition for the best design, the winner was Paul Abadie, who already had an impressive track record in restoring French cathedrals, and whose design utilised Roman and Byzantine models, to create the enormous basilica whose main dome is 83 metres above ground level. The contrast created by this white apparition on a hill, almost eastern in its domes and curves, with the mainly Romanesque architecture of the rest of the city, is quite striking.

The Chateau-Landon stones that give it its gleaming whiteness secrete calcite when it rains, though whether this was a masterstroke on the part of the builders or a happy coincidence is uncertain.

Entrance is free, and the nearest metro stations are Anvers and Abbesses.

There are always plenty of performance artists on the approaches to the church, and gardens to relax in, as well as great views across the city.