Paray-le-Monial - Basilique du Sacré Coeur

The "Basilique du Sacré Coeur" in Paray-le-Monial. A monastry existing here since 974 became a dependency of nearby Cluny in 999. The first church "Paray I" was consecrated by Odilo of Cluny in 1004. Though enlarged later to "Paray II" by the still existing westwork and narthex, abbot Hugh of Cluny started the building of now existing church "Paray III" in 1090. As it has lots of similarities to the only little older "Cluny III", it is sometimes called "Small Cluny". Paray-Le-Monial played a role in the medieval pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela.

Today pilgims are back. Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque lived here, a nun and mystic, who had visions in 1673. She promoted devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. So Paray-le-Monial now again is a place of pilgrimage in France. Even the patronage of the basilique changed in the 19th century from "Basilique du Notre Dame" to "Basilique du du Sacré Coeur".

I have already uploaded a lot of photos of Paray-le-Monial, I took during other visits. About a year ago, I found a beatiful mermaid on one of the many sculpted capitals in Paray-le-Monial. So this year l added a photo of one of her bearded male collegues, holding a fish.