The basilica is affectionately known as the “upside-down elephant”. It stands on the ruins of Roman Emperor Trajan’s forum (public square and marketplace) and overlooks the city from a dominant position. It was built between 1872 and 1896 with private funds to express the people's gratitude for the Virgin Mary’s miraculous intervention against the double danger of German occupation during the disastrous Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871) and the triumph of the socialists in the subsequent Lyon Commune. The suppression of the worker's uprising after four days was interpreted by conservatives as proof of the divine will, and the basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière became a gigantic votive offering to thank God for His assistance in France’s hour of greatest need.