Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
TOP SIGHT
PANTHÉON
Overlooking the city from its Left Bank perch, the Panthéon's stately neocla
classiicaal
ddome stands out as one of the most recognisable icons in the Parisian skyline. Louis
XV originally commissioned the vast architectural masterpiece around 1750 as an ab-
bey dedicated to Ste Geneviève in thanksgiving for his recovery from an illness.
However, due to financial and structural problems, it wasn't completed until 1789 -
not a good year for church openings in Paris.
It reverted to religious duties twice after the Revolution but has played a secular role
ever since 1885, and the crypt now serves as the resting place of some of France's
greatest thinkers, including Voltaire, Rousseau, Braille and Hugo. The first woman to
be interred in the Panthéon based on achievement was two-time Nobel Prize winner
Marie Curie (1867-1934), reburied here, along with her husband, Pierre, in 1995.
The dome is closed for renovations through 2015 (other structural work will contin-
ue through to 2022). A copy of Fouucault
dulum, originally hung from the dome in
1851 to demonstrate the rotation of the earth, should return to its display following the
dome's renovation.
ult''s p
s pendulum
