Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Belgium

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Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Brussels

The national Basilica of the Sacred Heart or Koekelberg Basilica (French: Basilique du Sacré-Coeur or Basilique de Koekelberg, Dutch: Basiliek van het Heilig Hart or Basiliek van Koekelberg), in Brussels, Belgium, is the sixth largest church in the world. It is situated in the territory of the Koekelberg municipality.

[edit] Description

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The church, on Koekelberg hill, is a landmark on the Brussels skyline. It is the largest building in Art Deco style in the world, being 89 meters high and 167 meters long (outside length). The cupola platform gives an excellent city panorama over Brussels and the wider area of Flemish-Brabant. The middle nave is 141 m long and at its widest the building is 107 m. The cupola has a diameter of 33 m. The church has room for 2000 people.

This enormous building houses catholic church celebrations, in both main Belgian national languages (Dutch & French), but also conferences, exhibitions (like in 2007-2008 the international Leonardo da Vinci expo), a restaurant, a catholic radio station, a theatre, 2 museums, and is a training place for speleology and climbers.

[edit] History

The BSH was built to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Belgian independence. In 1905 King Leopold II laid the first stone, but the edifice was not completed until 1971.

The final design was by Ghentian architect Albert Van Huffel. His design also won the great architecture prize at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs en Industriels Modernes in Paris.

The building combines reinforced concrete with terracotta layering, bricks, and dimension stone.