Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Brussels

Common card · No. 365389

The National Basilica of the Sacred Heart (French: Basilique nationale du Sacré-Cœur; Dutch: Nationale Basiliek van het Heilig-Hart) is a Catholic minor basilica and parish church in Brussels, Belgium. It is dedicated to the Sacred Heart, inspired by the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur in Paris. Symbolically, King Leopold II laid the first stone in 1905 during the celebrations of the 75th anniversary of Belgian independence. The construction was halted by the two world wars and finished only in 1970. Belonging to the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Mechelen–Brussels, it is the 17th largest church by area in the world and the largest in Belgium. Located at the head of Elisabeth Park atop the Koekelberg Plateau, between the municipalities of Koekelberg and Ganshoren, the church is popularly known as the Koekelberg Basilica (French: Basilique de Koekelberg; Dutch: Basiliek van Koekelberg). The massive brick and reinforced concrete structure, in Art Deco style of neo-Byzantine inspiration, features two...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Fred Romero from Paris, France, CC BY 2.0