Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Brussels.

The National Basilica of the Sacred Heart is a small Roman Catholic basilica in Brussels, Belgium, as well as a parish church. Inspired by the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur in Paris, the church is devoted to the Sacred Heart. In 1905, on the 75th anniversary of Belgian independence, King Leopold II placed the foundation stone of the basilica. Two world wars halted development, and it was only completed in 1969. It is one of the world’s largest surface churches, belonging to the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels.The Koekelberg Basilica is the popular name for the church. The huge brick and reinforced concrete church has two slim towers and an 89-meter-high green copper dome that dominates Brussels’ northwestern horizon.King Leopold I dreamed of developing the empty Koekelberg hill into a royal dwelling place in the mid-nineteenth century. To honour the 50th anniversary of Belgian independence, King Leopold II planned to erect a Belgian Panthéon devoted to Great Belgians, inspired by the French Panthéon in Paris, after his death in 1880. Due to the lack of enthusiasm among the Belgian people, the monarch abandoned the initiative. After visiting the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur in Paris in 1902, Leopold II decided to construct a pilgrimage church, a national sanctuary devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.The Leuven-based architect Pierre Langerock’s first project was a lavish neo-Gothic church…