Sacré-Coeur
The Sacré-Coeur is one place of worship I am
familiar with, I visited it on a trip to Paris, France. From my research the
Sacré-Coeur was designed by Paul Abadie in a Romanesque-Byzantine architectural style. Some influential people decided to build the
church or basilica based on two reasons (Aviewoncities,2013):
1.
They had pledged to build a church if Paris
escaped unscathed from the war with the Prussians
2.
They saw the defeat of the French at the hands of
the Prussian army in 1870 as a moral condemnation of the sins of Paris.
Description of
the church
Sacré-Coeur (Wikipedia, 2013)
The
triple-arched portico is surmounted by two bronze equestrian statues of
France's national saints, Joan of Arc and King Saint Louis IX, designed by
Hippolyte Lefebvre.
The great bell, the Savoyarde, has nationalist references.
Cast in Annecy in 1895, it is one of the world's heaviest bells at 19 tons.
The
Sacré-Coeur Basilica is built of Château-Landon (Seine-et-Marne) stone, a frost-resistant travertine that bleaches with age to a
gleaming white. The main portal has grand bronze doors with foliage designs.
Inside,
the Sacré-Coeur is dim and rather gloomy except for the golden mosaics glowing
from apse. The floor plan is an equal-armed Greek cross, with a large dome (83m
high) over the crossing. In the huge choir, 11 tall round arches support a
barrel vault.
Since 1885, the Blessed Sacrament has been
continually on display in a monstrance above the high altar. Perpetual adoration of
the Blessed Sacrament has continued uninterrupted in the Basilica since 1885.
The apse mosaic, designed by Luc-Olivier Merson (1922), is the largest
in the world. It depicts Christ in
Majesty and The Sacred Heart worshiped by the Virgin Mary, Joan of Arc and St.
Michael the Archangel.
A
climb to the top of the dome provides
an excellent view of Paris - at 271 feet above Montmartre it is the
second-highest viewpoint after the Eiffel Tower
The crypt contains
statues of saints and a relic that some believe to be the very Sacred Heart (Sacré-Coeur)
of Christ.
Relation between appearance and
religious uses
This church was constructed so
that there would be perpetual
adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and this has continued
uninterrupted in the Basilica since 1885. In addition the building was designed
so that people from around the world could make a pilgrimage to the basilica
and pray.
References
Comments
Post a Comment