While Pauline, Angela and Dennis were happy to finish Sunday in the centre of the city I had something else I wanted to see. The National Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Koekelberg, it is a striking Art Deco landmark and one of the world's largest churches so two for one for me.
Inspired* by Paris' Sacré-Cœur, it was conceived as a national shrine to commemorate Belgian independence. King Leopold II laid the symbolic first stone in 1905 (75th anniversary of independence). Designed by architect Albert Van Huffel (who died in 1935), construction started in 1926 but dragged on due to World Wars I and II, finally completed in 1971 after 65+ years.
Vast Art Deco interiors with mosaics, sculptures, museums and occasional exhibitions; it's also a parish church and pilgrimage site.
*Originally, Leopold I dreamed of a royal residence on the hill; his son Leopold II pivoted to a "Belgian Panthéon" for national heroes (inspired by Paris' Panthéon), then shifted to a Sacred Heart basilica after visiting Paris' version.
Apparently locals joke it's the city's 'white elephant' due to its remote location but it is wort the trek in my humble opinion.
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