Sacré Coeur – Paris Landmark Architecture Art

Description

If you’ve ever walked up the huge hill in Montmartre to visit Sacré Coeur, then this print may well remind you of the sight that greeted you at the top of the highest hill in Paris. Even though I stayed in Montmartre while I was in Paris, it was a few days before I built up the gumption to climb that hill. I knew there was a funicular that would whisk me straight to the top, but where was the fun in that?

And I took a good number of pictures of Sacré Coeur rising over that hill from a variety of landings on the way up, but this one just before the last flight of stairs is my personal favorite. And it’s very hard for me to pick favorites among my own artwork, so that says something. I simply love the looming domes and towers and the other people climbing those steps on a beautiful winter day in Paris. This print is like a record of the ascension to Sacré Coeur, a visual representation of the accomplishment.

Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the landmark church at the top of that last flight of steps is simply gorgeous. In fact, I think it may be that the Romano-Byzantine architecture of Sacré Coeur made it my favorite church in Paris. Before I visited Paris, I expected that title to land with the medieval gothic Notre Dame Cathedral. And Notre Dame was absolutely breath-taking, mind you. But the curving almost organic lines of Sacré Coeur felt more like Paris to me, a city where Art Nouveau really flourished. There was a graceful elegance to Sacré Coeur that still says Paris to me every time I see this print.

Have you also climbed those long flights of stairs to Sacré Coeur in Montmartre? Or are you simply bowled over by its memorable architecture?