Top of the World
The Basilica of the Sacred Heart, which dominates all of Paris from the top of its white dome, is located in the heart of the Montmartre district and is one of the most visited and popular monuments of the French capital. Built at the end of the 19th century, on the hill of Montmartre, this monument of Roman-Byzantine style was influenced, in its originality, by other buildings, such as the Basilica of Sainte-Thérèse in Lisieux. The Sacré Coeur immediately brings to mind the old Paris, that of the painters, cabarets and literary cafés, still present all around this majestic building. The result of a "national vote" promoted by the Catholic Church to atone for the crimes of the Paris Commune, and to this end the new building, built entirely with private donations, was built in the heart of the district from which the revolutionary uprisings began. The stone used for its construction, that of Château-Landon, has the characteristic of producing, in contact with rainwater, a white substance (calcine) that permeates the whole building. So the more it rains, the more the building acquires whiteness! A visit to the interior is of little artistic value, while the climb to the dome is more interesting, which can be reached through 300 steep and narrow steps. But then, once you reach the apex, the view is enchanting: a 360° panorama of which, perhaps, the best description is given by E. Zola in his novel Paris: "immense Paris lay at his feet, a clear and light Paris in the clarity of an early spring evening. The endless sea of the roofs stood out with such singular clarity that one could count the chimneys and the black dashes of the windows, by the millions. In the calm air the monuments looked like ships at anchor, a team stopped on its way whose tall trees shone in the farewell of the sun."
