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Sacre-Coeur Dome Climb... one staircase or two?

Posted by on

Logistical question about the dome staircase at Sacre-Coeur, looking for knowledge from previous visitors.

I have climbed a couple of spiral stairways elsewhere in Europe that ended up being a "two-way road," with people having to edge past each other going up and down. Is this the case at Sacre-Coeur?

Or is it more like I found at Notre Dame, where tourists go up one staircase and down another?

I was hoping, with this being a relatively modern basilica, that the architects may have thought to put in more than one spiral staircase to the top.

Thanks for your help.

Posted by
10629 posts

I don't think the architects had tourists in mind. Their goal was to impose a conservative religious Basilica on the top of Montmartre because this is where the socialist Paris Commune of 1871 had been the most active. A sort of trophy.

Posted by
8556 posts

good to know. I did this climb with a friend a couple of years ago in October and simply could not remember if there were two stairs. It was not crowded at that time - there were maybe half a dozen other people at the top at most when we did it, and so I couldn't remember if we used a different stair as there were no traffic jams on the stairs when we did it.

Posted by
227 posts

We did this climb last April and there is only one staircase. Not busy, didn't pass more than 2 or 3 people. Well worth it for the amazing view at the top and to "look down" on the gargoyles!

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