Paul Abadie designed the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Montmartre, with his plan chosen from seventy-seven proposals. Construction began in 1875 and was completed in 1914, and the basilica was consecrated in 1919, after the First World War. Its hilltop site overlooks the area of the Paris Commune uprising, and it was built after the Commune's defeat, which keeps it controversial.
The style is a free interpretation of Romano-Byzantine architecture. The white travertine stone, from Château-Landon in Seine-et-Marne, gives off calcite when rain touches it, which keeps it exceptionally white. The dome rises 272 feet (83 m), flanked by four smaller cupolas, and the bell tower holds the Savoyarde, which weighs 18,835 kilograms (41,500 pounds).
The apse mosaic, The Triumph of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, covers 475 square meters (5,100 sq ft) and is among the largest mosaics in the world. Visitors can enter daily.
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