Basilique du Sacré-Coeur, ses annexes et le square Louise-Michel

English translation

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History

The basilica of the Sacré-Cœur was born from a vow, formulated by Alexandre-Félix Legentil, and notably supported by Hubert Rohault de Fleury, following the hardships experienced by France during the war of 1870. The undertaking became a national cause with the vote by the Assembly which considered it to be in the public interest in 1873, and by the competition which was organized in 1874, which brought together 87 competitors, and whose winner was Paul Abadie. The Montmartre hill was chosen to build the basilica, due to the lack of churches in this former village annexed by the city of Paris in 1860, its religious significance following the martyrdom of saint Denis which gives it its name of mont des martyrs, and above all its privileged situation, visible from all over Paris. The construction and decoration stretched over nearly half a century, financed by a vast national subscription. The laying of the foundations began in 1877, and the crypt, of the same size as the upper church, was built between 1878 and 1889. The upper church is of basilical plan with ambulatory and radiating chapels, corresponding to its function as a pilgrimage church. The nave is covered with five domes which give it the appearance of a centralized plan. It was built from 1881 onwards, its façades were completed in 1891, the domes were finished in 1899, the bell tower in 1914. The basilica was put into service as early as 1891, but was only consecrated in 1919. Its decoration continued well after: the great mosaic of the choir was completed in 1923, the chapel Saint-Ignace-de-Loyola in 1934, and all the stained-glass windows were remade between 1946 and 1977, after their destruction during the Second World War. After the death of P. Abadie in 1884, five architects succeeded one another who evolved his project while respecting its spirit and broad lines: Honoré Daumet (1884-1886), Henri Rauline (1886-1904), Charles Laisné (1886-1891), Lucien Magne (1904-1916) and Jean Hulot (1916-1959) as well as Charles Garnier as consulting architect (1891-1894). The décor, consisting of sculptures, mosaics, stained-glass windows and ironwork, brought together around sixty artists including Hippolyte Lefebvre, Pierre Séguin, Léon Fagel, Jean-Auguste Dampt, Léon-François Sicard, the Mauméjean brothers, Luc-Olivier Merson, Henri-Marcel-Magne, Raymond Subes, Georges Serraz, Louis-Ernest Barrias, Jacques Le Chevallier, Henri Pinta and René Martin. The annexes are the work of Jean Hulot: a first building was constructed to the east in the early 1930s, connected to the basilica by a gallery bridge. It contains the sacristy, accessible by a hall from the gallery, which are the only remarkable elements of the interiors, otherwise remodelled subsequently. A second building was added to it in the early 1950s, and a second gallery was built around 1962, in a more economical manner. The hillock was developed in its southern part by Jean-Camille Formigé and Léopold Bévière in the 1920s for the city of Paris, owner of the basilica since 1908. The latter is the culmination of a perspective which enhances it, formed by two grand straight staircases, flanked on either side by diagonal staircases forming zigzags.