In 1744 King Louis XV vowed to build a Basilica to replace the dilapidated sixth century Church dedicated to Sainte-Geneviève (Patron Saint of Paris) in thanksgiving for surviving a serious illness.
The architect Jacques- Germain Soufflot was commissioned in 1755 to design the new church.
Construction began in 1757, but due to lack of finance it was not completed until 1791, by which time the French revolution had begun. The Constituent Assembly of the Revolution decreed that the church be redesigned as a secular Pantheon that would hold "the ashes of the great men of the epoch of French liberty." The task of re-designing the stucture was given to Quatremère de Quincy.
The neo-classical building is in the form of a Greek cross, 110m long and 85m wide (361 x 279 ft), with a 83m (279ft) high dome at its centre. The portico of Corinthian columns is modeled after the ancient Pantheon in Rome and its pediment is carved with the words "To great men is the country grateful."
The Pantheon's main altar is dedicated to Liberty and has the inscription "Liberty or Death." The church is decorated with monuments of St Joan of Arc, St Geneviève and other notable personages who have fought for French liberty.
It was in the Pantheon in 1851 that Léon Foucault performed his famous experiment that proved the Earth rotates on its orbit. Foucault suspended a 28-kg bob hung from a 67-metre (220 foot) cable hanging from the dome. If you wait at Foucault's pendulum for about 5 to 10 minutes you will note that the swing of the pendulam is slowly turning anti-clockwise, but this observation is wrong, it is the earth that is turning on its axis, not the pendulum.
The crypt is where many of France's national heroes are buried, including Voltaire, Rousseau, Victor Hugo, Marie Curie, Jean Moulin and many more.
The Pantheon is built on top of Montagne St-Geneviève (hill), and from its dome are excellent views of the city.
Prices
Admission: 8 Euros
Opening Times
1 Apr to 30 Sept: 10am - 6:30pm
1 Oct to 31 Mar: 10am - 6pm
Closed: 1 Jan, 1 May & 25 Dec.
Address
Place du Panthéon
75005 Paris
Tel: 01 44 32 18 00
How to Get There
Métro:
Station - Cardinal Lemoine on line 10
Station - Maubert-Mutualité on line 10
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