A visit to the Sacré-Cœur (or Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris as it is also known), this impressive basilica resides at the top of the hill in Montmartre (the famously bohemian neighbourhood of Paris)
The basilica was originally conceived of in 1870 as a form of penance by Bishop Fournier, who suggested that the reason for Frances failure during the Franco-Prussian war was due to the moral decline of their society. It was for this reason that the basilica was erected in what was then Paris' most rebellious neighbourhood.
The basilica was constructed using Château-Landon stone, which is very high in Calcite, which gives the building its distinctive white exterior.
Within the basilica is also housed one of the worlds heaviest bells, the Savoyarde which weighs an impressive 19 tons... however we did not spend too much time inside... instead we visited the catacombs beneath the basilica.
Montmartre means the Mount of the Martyr, and within Sacre Coueur's catacombs you will find many, beginning with the most famous St. Denis... an interesting fact about martyrs... St. Denis is a cephalophore, which is a very specific type of martyr which carries its own severed head.
Clearly this happened enough that they needed to create an entire word for it... weird. There are in fact over 100 of them in French history alone. (and it is my new dream to locate more cephalophores around Europe!)
St. Denis is quite the badass however... it is said that when he was beheaded in Montmartre he walked all the way to the suburb which is now named after him, and the entire way he continued preaching from his severed head.
St. Francois Xavier, is the patron saint of "Catholic Missions" and was quite the globetrotter, performing missionary work in India, Japan, and Indonesia. It is said that aside from Paul the Apostle, he converted more people to the faith than anyone in history.
Shamefully I don't recall specific details about these next few gentlemen, but I believe they were the priests responsible for the building of the basilica. (shoot me a note if I am wrong)
The man above is Cardinal Leon Adolphe Amette who was archbishop of Paris between 1908–1920, he was also the man to consecrate the basilica in 1919.
Unfortunately this one I do not have any details about...
And above the main relic chapel in the centre of the crypt. Interestingly there is some mystery around the crypts... it is said that somewhere inside lies a piece of the sacred heart of Jesus, this is where the basilica gets its name.
This is mentioned in several guidebooks, and yet no official church documentation exists to back these claims.. so if a piece of the heart does reside somewhere in the crypts it is certainly not marked in any way.
This man I am sure was a kind, godly and generous man who has some fantastic significance. But I challenge you to not immediately think of the Emperor from Star Wars... this statue was very unnerving.
So there you go, a very brief summary of the roughly twenty minutes we spent at Sacre Couer!
Next up! Famous Graves and the Dali Museum!
References:
Sacre Coueur - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_Of_The_Sacred_Heart
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