Exterior of Basilica, Sittard

The basilica of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart was built in neogothic style. Neogothic is the term used for a type of art particularly found in the architecture of Western Europe, especially in England. In the 19th century the architecture of the Middle Ages, with its Gothic Cathedrals, became popular again. The buildings of the Middle Ages gained much attention. The grand architect of the neogothic style in the Netherlands was Doctor P.J.H. Cuypers, who established his studio in Roermond. Neogothic churches are rarer in Limburg than in the northern provinces of the Netherlands, since the Catholic population in the south still possessed many original church buildings, in contrast to those in the North. One of the most succesful products of the neogothic style in Limburg is this basilica in Sittard. This was built by the architect J. Kayser of Venlo, a pupil of Cuypers.
The first stone was laid on 2 June 1875, a marble stone which came from the catacombs of the Holy Callixtus and was sent by Pope Pius IX. The building was completed in 1877 and consecrated on 5 July 1879 by monseignieur Paredis, the bishop of Roermond.