The first lecture in our new Wednesday series with Mariam Habibi, The Sacré Coeur, located on the heights of Montmartre, is one of Paris’ emblematic sites. Though its construction started in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, the church was not consecrated until 1919. Most buildings have a story to tell. The Sacré Coeur’s story is a particularly complex and controversial one. The building of the Sacré Coeur was decided by a law promulgated by the French Assembly in 1873. The debates amongst the deputies were heated and emotive. In the words of one deputy, it was the confrontation of the two giant antagonists of French history: The Church and the Republic.

The story of those who wanted this church to be built and those who did not is indeed the story of France. The controversy continues to this day: The decision in 2022 to list the Sacré Coeur as a historical monument revived the controversy of the two Giants once again.

This a topic that may fascinate our American public by providing the French angle on the current, similar debate in the US over the constitutional separation of church and state.