I want to finish the coverage of the Sacre Coeur with the altar, the center of any church. This golden altar stands out, yet it is comparably sedate within the overall architecture. It clearly looks special and significant without looking over the top.

If you reference yesterday’s post, you can see its relationship to the central dome, a design that seems fairly standard in many of the churches I’ve visited. The mosaic is the largest in France, measuring 480 square meters.

In contrast to the airly and slender columns of gothic architecture, Sacre Coeur is Roman-Byzantine which appears more grounded. Its thick columns and arches, along with its shadows, offer a more mysterious and contemplative space.

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