SACRÉ-CŒUR CHURCH

Majestic church, located at the corner of Solferino Street and National Street. It is a far cry. It was erected at the end of the th century, at the initiative of the Ladies of Mary's Children's Association of the Sacred Heart, to preserve Lille from the Prussian invasion. In neo-Gothic style, it is one of the largest churches in the city: 90 m long, 24 m wide and 22 m high under the main vault. It was built by the architect Lillois Jules Batigny between 1875 and 1898. Its steeple, so high that it is visible at miles to the round, was completed in the mid th century on plans. In reinforced concrete, it did not withstand the weather and had to be restored entirely from 2005 to 2008. The Absidiale chapel is adorned with a remarkable set of eleven stained glass windows in Chartres around 1890, which have been classified as Historical monuments since 1983. Among the other jewels of the church, note the presence of an English accompaniment organ dating from the end of the th century, also classified as the stained glass windows of the transept representing the evangelists.