Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Montmartre, Paris

The Basilica of the Sacred Heart crowns the Montmartre hill, in the 18^th arrondissement of Paris, at 130 metres above sea level. Decided after the war of 1870, declared of public utility in 1873 and completed in 1923, it can be seen from far away thanks to its 83-metre dome. With nearly eleven million pilgrims and visitors a year, it is the second most visited religious monument in Paris, after Notre-Dame.

A sacred hill long before the basilica

Montmartre est un lieu de culte depuis l’Antiquité, avec des temples gallo-romains dédiés à Mercure et probablement à Mars. Selon la tradition, l’évêque Denis de Paris et ses compagnons Rustique et Éleuthère y furent décapités au III^e siècle, et la colline devint un lieu de pèlerinage chrétien. Le nom hésite d’ailleurs entre deux origines, le mont de Mars ou le mont des Martyrs. Au XII^e siècle, Louis VI et Adélaïde de Savoie y font bâtir l’église Saint-Pierre, l’une des plus anciennes de Paris, voisine de la basilique.

A national vow, a disputed history

The project was born from a vow made at the end of 1870 by Alexandre Legentil, who wanted to build a sanctuary in Paris dedicated to the Sacred Heart to do penance for France's misfortunes. He carried it forward with his brother-in-law Hubert Rohault de Fleury. Construction was paid for by a national subscription: nearly ten million faithful donated over half a century, often by offering an engraved stone bearing their name. The architect Paul Abadie designed a building inspired by Romanesque and Byzantine styles, in a Greek cross plan, and the foundation stone was laid in 1875. For Parisians close to the Communards, the basilica became a symbol of the repression of the Commune, a link that no inscription establishes but that political debates keep alive. It was only listed as a historic monument in 2020, and classified in December 2022.

White stone, mosaic and great organ

The stone comes from the quarries of Château-Landon and Souppes-sur-Loing. This very hard limestone keeps its whiteness when exposed to rain. In the choir, the mosaic designed by Luc-Olivier Merson and laid from 1918 to 1922 covers almost 474 m²: it is the largest in France. The great organ is the last major instrument by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, built in 1898 for the château of Ilbarritz and later acquired by the basilica. A staircase of 237 steps leads to the dome, from which the view extends 30 kilometres on a clear day.

An energetic site where prayer never stops

Since 1885, the faithful have taken turns day and night in uninterrupted eucharistic adoration. Charles de Foucauld spent a night in prayer there in 1909, and the Benedictine sisters of the Sacred Heart of Montmartre have animated the basilica since 1995. This continuous prayer, even more than the architecture, explains why the basilica is so often cited by energy-site enthusiasts, despite the crowds. If you felt something under this dome, by day or by night, share it below.