PARIS (France): Sacré-Coeur Basilica.
After France's 1870 defeat by the Prussians in the Franco-Prussian War and its aftermath, the Commune of 1871, the basilica was planned as a guilt offering and a vote of confidence to cure France's misfortunes.
The church was dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a cult that gained popularity after 1873, when the first pilgrimage was organized to Paray-le-Monial in Burgundy. It was there that revelations encouraging prayer to Christ's sacred heart had been reported in the 17th century.
The foundation stone of the Basilique Sacré-Coeur was laid in 1875 with Abadie as the lead architect. When Paul Abadie died in 1884, he was succeeded by Lucien Magne, who added an 83 meter (272 ft) tall clock tower. It was consecrated in 1891, fully completed in 1914, and elevated to the status of a basilica in 1919, after the end of the First World War.
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