Le Magnifique Basilique du Sacré-Cœur...

After returning back from Fontainebleau, it was time for Neeti and me to tour the magnificent city of Paris. Our first halt in Paris was the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur, located on the summit of the butte (hill) called Montmartre, which happens to be the highest point in the city...

Our journey to the Basilica began right in front of the Moulin Rouge theatre on the Boulevard de Clichy in the Pigalle district of the 18th Arrondissement. Originally introduced as a seductive dance by the courtesans who operated from the site, the can-can dance revue evolved into a form of entertainment of its own and led to the introduction of cabarets across Europe. Today, the Moulin Rouge is a tourist attraction, offering musical dance entertainment for tourists. Perhaps, we'll come here on our next Paris visit...

Street art...

Need I say more?

The Tricolore...

On board the Petit Train de Montmartre...

An autorickshaw or a tuk-tuk...

The first glimpse of the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur...

And the city of Paris lies to the south...

Equestrian Statue of King Saint Louis and Joan of Arc flank the cathedral...

Montmartre is a site of religious significance for local Christians. The hill is associated with Denis, who was bishop of the Parisii and was martyred by the Romans alongwith his companions - he was beheaded by a sword. Montmartre was believed to have been a druidic holy place. After his head was cut off, Denis is said to have picked it up and walked 10 kilometres to St. Denis, from the summit of the hill, preaching a sermon the entire way...

The martyrdom of Denis and his companions is popularly believed to have given the site its current name, derived from the Latin Mons Martyrum - "The Martyrs' Mountain". Others believe that the name is derived from Mons Mercurii et Mons Martis, Hill of Mercury and Mars... 

The city of Paris, as viewed from the Basilica...

Wikipedia tells me of the history of the Basilica:

"The inspiration for Sacré Cœur's design and architecture originated on September 4, 1870, the day of the proclamation of the Third Republic, with a speech by Bishop Fournier attributing the defeat of French troops during the Franco-Prussian War to a divine punishment after "a century of moral decline" since the French Revolution, in the wake of the division in French society that arose in the decades following that revolution, between devout Catholics and legitimist royalists on one side, and democrats, secularists, socialists and radicals on the other. This schism in the French social order became particularly pronounced after the 1870 withdrawal of the French military garrison protecting the Vatican in Rome to the front of the Franco-Prussian War by Napoleon III, the secular uprising of the Paris Commune of 1870-1871, and the subsequent 1871 defeat of France in the Franco-Prussian War.

Though today the Basilica is asserted to be dedicated in honor of the 58,000 who lost their lives during the war, the decree of the Assemblée Nationale, 24 July 1873, responding to a request by the archbishop of Paris by voting its construction, specifies that it is to "expiate the crimes of the Commune". Montmartre had been the site of the Commune's first insurrection, and the Communards had executed Georges Darboy, Archbishop of Paris, who became a martyr for the resurgent Catholic Church. His successor Guibert, climbing the Butte Montmartre in October 1872, was reported to have had a vision, as clouds dispersed over the panorama: "It is here, it is here where the martyrs are, it is here that the Sacred Heart must reign so that it can beckon all to come"."

The Sacré-Cœur Basilica was designed by Paul Abadie. Construction began in 1875 and was finished in 1914. It was consecrated after the end of World War I in 1919...

A view of the Eiffel Tower from the hill...

The way back...

One last look, and we hope to be back soon, to see the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur from inside...