The church is 85 meters long and thirty-five metres wide. It is composed of a large central rotunda, around which are placed a small nave, two transepts, and an advance-choir, which form a cross. The porch of the church has three bays, and is modelled after the porch of
Périgueux Cathedral. The dominant feature is the immense elongated ovoid cupola, 83.33 metres high, surrounded by four smaller cupolas. At the north end is the campanile, or bell tower, 84 metres high, containing the "Savoyarde", the largest bell in France. The overall style of the structure is a free interpretation of
Romano-
Byzantine architecture. This was an unusual architectural style at the time, and was in part a reaction against the neo-Baroque of the
Palais Garnier opera house by Charles Garnier, and other buildings of the
Napoleon III style. The construction was eventually handed on to a series of new architects, including Garnier himself, who was a counsellor to the architect Henri-Pierre Rauline between 1891 and 1904, Some elements of the design, particularly the elongated domes and the structural forms of the windows on the south façade, are Neo-classical, and were added by the later architects Henri-Pierre Rauline and Lucien Magne.
Exterior File:Sacré-Cœur-de-Montmartre_plan_roofs.png|Plan of the church, with campanile at north end, and four smaller cupolas around central dome File:Sacré Coeur - Aerial photo 1.jpg|Sacré-Cœur seen from above File:2018-02-21 10-18-36 sacré-coeur-paris.jpg|South façade, the main entrance overlooking Paris File:Close up view of of Sacre-Coeur Basilica.jpg|Close-up view of Sacre-Cœur Basilica The campanile, or bell tower, on the north front, houses the nineteen-ton
Savoyarde bell (one of the world's heaviest), cast in 1895 in
Annecy. It alludes to the attachment of
Savoy to France in 1860. File:Basilique Sacré Cœur Montmartre façade sud Paris 11.jpg|Detail of the south façade File:Paris Basilique Sacré-Coeur Chor 2.jpg|The north façade, and choir File:Tour du Sacré Cœur, Montmartre, Paris May 2011.jpg|The campanile or bell tower The porch of the south façade, the main entrance, is loaded with sculpture combining religious and French national themes. It is topped with a statue representing the Sacred Heart of Christ. The arches of the façade are decorated with two
equestrian statues of French national saints
Joan of Arc (1927) and
King Saint Louis IX, both executed in
bronze by
Hippolyte Lefèbvre. File:Statue Jésus Christ Basilique Sacré Cœur Montmartre Paris 7.jpg|Statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, south façade File:Sacré-CœurJoan of Arc.jpg|Statue of Joan of Arc (south façade) File:04-2017. París-4.jpg|Saint Louis (
Louis IX) (south façade) The white stone of Sacré-Cœur is
travertine limestone of a type called
Chateau-Landon, quarried in
Souppes-sur-Loing, in
Seine-et-Marne, France. The particular quality of this stone is that it is extremely hard with a fine grain, and exudes calcite on contact with rainwater, making it exceptionally white.
Interior File:Paris, Sacré-Coeur, Nef et choeur.jpg|The choir and the altar File:Sacre Coeur - Coupole.jpg|Coupola from below. Each sculpted angel carries a symbol of the passion of Christ. File:The interior of the north dome, Sacre Coeur, Paris.jpg|Interior of the North Dome The
nave is dominated by the very high dome, which symbolises the celestial world, resting upon a rectangular space,symbolising the terrestrial world. The two are joined by massive columns, which represent the passage between the two worlds. The plan of the interior is a Greek cross, with the altar in the center, modelled after Byzantine churches. More traditional Latin features, the choir and the disambulatory, were added around the altar. The light in interior of the church is unusually dim, due to the height of the windows above the altar, and this contributes to the mystical effect. Other Byzantine features in the interior include the designs of the tile floor and the glasswork. To the right of Christ is a scene titled "The Homage of France to the Sacred Heart;" a group of popes and cardinals present a model of the basilica to Christ. On his left is "The Homage of the Catholic Church to the Sacred Heart": where people in the costumes of the five continents pay their homage to the
Sacred Heart. At the base of the mosaic is a Latin inscription, stating that the basilica is a gift from France. "To the Sacred Heart of Jesus, France fervent, penitent and grateful." The word "grateful" was added after
World War I. At the top of the mosaic is another procession, called "the Saints of France and Saints of the Universal Church". In all of the mosaic, the artists adapted elements of
Byzantine art in the organization of the figures, the altered perspective, and the use of polychrome colours enhanced with silver and gold.
Art and decoration Decoration covers the walls, the floor, and the architecture. Much of the decoration is in a distinctly
neo-Byzantine style, with intricate patterns, and abundant color.
Stained glass File:Sacre Coeur - Vitraux St Louis.jpg|Chapel Windows in Neo-Byzantine style depicting life of
Clovis I and
Louis IX (Saint Louis) File:Sacre Coeur - Orgue.jpg|Windows over the organ File:BasiliqueduSacre-Coeur2.jpg|A rose window depicting the Sacred Heart of Christ File:BasiliqueduSacre-Coeur3.jpg|Window depicting "Christ conquers"
Sculpture File:Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre- Crypte - Saint Jean de Dieu soignant un malade par Léon Fagel (1851-1913).JPG|
Saint John Healing the Sick, by Léon Fagel (1851–1913) File:Intérieur Basilique Sacré Cœur Montmartre - Paris XVIII (FR75) - 2022-04-30 - 11.jpg|Christ with Child (Pieta) File:Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre- crypte - Cardinal Guibert.JPG|Cardinal Guibert, leading proponent of the basilica, holding its model File:Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre- Saint Hubert - Duchesse d'Uzés dite Manuela 1889.JPG|
Saint Hubert by Duchesse d'Uzés (1889) File:Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre- crypte - Saints Donatien et Rogatien par P. Potet 1850.JPG|
Saints Donatien and Rogatien, by P.Potet (1850) in Crypt File:Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre- crypte - Saint Bruno par Henri Louis Noël - 1899.JPG|
Saint Bruno by Henri Louis Noël (1899)
Grand organ File:Paris, Sacré Coeur, Hauptorgel (2a).jpg|The Grand Organ File:Paris, Sacré-Coeur, Orgue Cavaillé-Coll-Mutin (5).jpg|The view from behind the organ down to the altar The basilica contains a large and very fine
pipe organ built by
Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, the most celebrated organ builder in Paris in the 19th century. His other organs included those of
Saint-Denis Basilica (1841),
Sainte-Clotilde Basilica (1859),
Saint-Sulpice church and
Notre Dame de Paris (1868). The organ is composed of 109 ranks and 78 speaking stops spread across four 61-note manuals and the 32-note pedalboard (unusual before the start of the 20th century; the standard of the day was 56 and 30), and has three expressive divisions (also unusual for the time, even in large organs). The organ was originally built in 1898 for the Biarritz chateau of the Baron Albert de L'Espée. It was the last instrument built by Cavaillé-Coll. The organ was ahead of its time, containing multiple expressive divisions and giving the performer considerable advantages over other even larger instruments of the day. It was almost identical (tonal characteristics, layout, and casework) to the instrument in
Sheffield's Albert Hall, which was destroyed by fire in 1937. However, when installed in Paris in 1905 by Cavaillé-Coll's successor and son-in-law,
Charles Mutin, a much plainer case was substituted for the original ornate case. The organ was recognised as a national landmark in 1981. It has undergone several restorations. The most recent, begun in 1985, replaced only the most severely damaged pneumatic parts, but others have deteriorated and some are no longer usable. The pipes are now covered with a thick layer of dust which impacts the pitch and timbre. The Savoyarde can be heard from 10 km away. This bell is the fifth largest in Europe, ranking behind the
Petersglocke of Cologne (Germany), the
Olympic Bell of London,
Maria Dolens of
Rovereto (Italy), and the
Pummerin of Vienna (Austria). It weighs 18,835 kg, measures 3,03 m of diameter for 9.60 m of outer circumference, with a base thickness of 22 cm and a leaf of 850 kg. With its accessories, its official weight reaches 19,685 kg. It was offered by the four dioceses of Savoy. It was transported to the basilica on October 16, 1895, pulled by a team of 28 horses. In the late 1990s, a crack was noticed in the bell. == Role in Catholicism ==