The story of Montmartre & Sacré-Cœur
Montmartre was a separate village of windmills and vineyards until it joined Paris in 1860. Cheap rents drew artists, and in the late 1800s and early 1900s Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec, Van Gogh and Picasso all lived and painted here.
The Basilica of the Sacré-Cœur was built between 1875 and 1914 after France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. Its white travertine stone cleans itself in the rain, which keeps it bright. From its steps, 130 metres above the Seine, the whole city spreads out below.
