The idea to build Sacré-Coeur as a tribute to the 58,000 lives lost during the French Revolution was supported by the National Assembly and archbishop of Paris. Initially, the basilica’s construction was to begin in 1873 by public funds, but the Assembly decided to finance its construction and started it in 1875.

The architect Paul Abadie, famous for restoring the St-Front Cathedral in Périgueux, was commissioned to design the basilica. However, Abadie died in 1884, completing only the foundations. Sacré-Coeur was completed in 1914 at the cost of 40 million francs, but was not consecrated until 1919.

In 1925, it looked as if the church's limestone walls and Gustavino tiled ceilings would be completed for Bishop O’Connor’s fiftieth anniversary of ordination set for December 1926. However, a dispute arose over the type of limestone that was to be used for the sanctuary and ambulatory. The interior’s construction continued even after Bishop O’Connor’s death in 1927. The bishop was laid to rest in the finished crypt of the basilica. Inside the basilica, the visitors can admire one of the worlds’ largest mosaics, displaying Christ with outstretched arms. Apart from tourists crowding in, the place is also visited by pilgrimages of the faithful taking part in the prayer of perpetual adoration, which has been in the forefront of the church's life since 1885.

One can visit and worship in the Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre each Sunday when the high mass begins at 11.00 am with the Little Singers of Montmartre. There are also late masses at 6pm and 10.15pm. Biblical meditation is sung in French each Friday at 3pm, and for those seeking spiritual guidance, a chaplain stands ready for assistance at the right of the entrance to the basilica.

It is no accident that Sacré-Coeur was built upon the Montmartre hill, as it is of great historic significance. Montmartre means 'the mountain of the martyr’, and owes its name to St Denis, the Bishop of Paris and patron saint of France, who was beheaded on the hill around AD 250. The religious significance of the hill is said to reach as far back as a druids' holy place. What’s more, Montmartre had been the site of the first insurrection of the commoners of the French Revolution. In the mid-1880s, famous artists, such as Camille Pissarro and Johan Jongkind, lived on the hill, and by the end of the Century and the beginning of the 20th Century, Montmarte became the artistic centre of Paris, with the likes of Pablo Picasso and Amadeo Modigliani. Today, Montmartre is well known for its nightlife and clubs, such as the Moulin Rouge. That is why especially the bohemian world took a liking to this city.