Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre

The travertine stone of the Sacré-Cœur keeps its chalky white color even when the rest of Paris turns gray under a rainstorm. This basilica sits at the highest natural point in the city, built after the chaos of the eighteen seventy-one Paris Commune. Architects designed it to project a sense of national penance. During the construction, a local critic, Henri Rochefort, called the rising structure a giant wedding cake, a nickname that has stuck with the limestone dome for over a century.