Built in Remembrance but in Remembrance of What?

 

Paris skyline from the Sacré-Cœur Basilica.

Few would argue that the Basilica of Sacré-Cœur is beautiful, elegant or imposing. One has to concede that it is striking and distinctive. Its Byzantine style achieve a kind of haughty grandeur; it demands respect from the city of Paris spread out at its feet. When the sun deigns to shine on its domes it glistens from afar, even on gloomy days its domes seem to capture the smallest particle of light and radiate them outward in a white marble glow.

Floodlight by night



it appears suspended in space, sepulchral and ethereal. Thus does Sacré-Cœur project an image of saintly grandeur. It imposingly stands above Paris as if to remind the city below that it was built in remembrance   But remembrance what?

Source Monument and Myth  David Harvey Consciousness and Urban Experience
The Basilica of Sacré-Cœur, as seen from the base of the butte Montmartre.