The Pantheon of Paris: The Secular Tomb of France's Greats

The Pantheon stands on the hill of Sainte-Genevieve in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, and its famous dome has long become part of the city's skyline (as well as that of Les Invalides). Quite a few tourists pass by it on their way from Rue Moffatt to Luxembourg Gardens, some of them stop to take pictures of the impressive structure and some may even go inside. However, how many of them really know the upheavals that this monumental structure has undergone?

Let me take you on a historical journey inside a building that has changed its purpose several times over the course of 100 years, until it became established as the Pantheon of the Greats of France. Together we will discover who is buried there, and of course I will not forget to provide you with all the necessary logistical information if you would like to go down to the crypt and walk among the tombs.

The Pantheon in Paris is a mirror of France's political schizophrenia

It all started with a king's illness.

In 1744 the king decides Louis XIV to go to war with Austria, but when he reached the city of Metz he fell ill and his health deteriorated rapidly. As he lay on his deathbed, the king swore that if he recovered he would divorce his mistress, the Duchess of Châteauroux (Marie Anne de Mailly-Nesle, duchesse de Châteauroux) and build a magnificent church in honor of Saint Genevieve, the patron saint of Paris.

And lo and behold, the king miraculously managed to recover from his illness, but within a very short time he returned to his mistress, who, even more miraculously, died suddenly that same year and was secretly buried in the cemetery of Saint-Sulpice ChurchThe promises regarding the establishment of the church were also forgotten, and over the following years nothing happened.

But Mishna Ahabet, Mishna Mazal, and after the Duchesse de Chateauroux take the stage Madame de Pompadour, who manages to appoint her brother the Marquis de Marigny in charge of royal construction. The latter in turn decides in 1755 that a king's promises must be kept, and he appoints Jacques-Germain Soufflot (1713-1780) to design the church.

The chosen location was Sainte-Genevieve Hill, where her remains and an important monastery named after her were located (today, all that remains is a bell tower located in the center of one of the most elite high schools in France, but that's another story). Even in the first plans, it was clear that this was a grandiose structure with a huge dome, for which Soufflé was inspired by the famous architect Donato Bramante (1444-1514). Incidentally, the impressive facade itself (which we will discuss later) was designed with direct inspiration from the ancient Pantheon of Rome from the first century BC. However, what Soufflé did not take into account is that under the hill on which the church is supposed to stand, there are ancient quarries.

The result was a hollow ground, which caused the foundations of the building to sink. Soufflé spent the rest of his life repairing the damage and protecting his tarnished reputation. However, all this was beyond his ability and he died of a heart attack in 1780. Soufflé was replaced by his student Jean-Baptiste Rondelet (1743-1829), who, after various other changes, managed to complete the building in 1790.

If you thought that was the end of the church's story, then you were wrong – because it has only just begun…

From church to Pantheon and back again

As we have seen, the church doors were opened to the general public in 1790, and the timing couldn't have been worse. As you know, in 1789 the French Revolution broke out, and as a result, a large number of churches were destroyed or their purpose changed (theNotre Dame For example, it became a warehouse).

Fortunately for this church, one of the heroes of the Revolution, the Count de Mirabeau (Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau 1747-1791), died a year after the church opened and it was decided to bury him there, along with Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and other people who were beloved by the revolutionaries. Thus the church changed its face and became the Pantheon, which in Greek means: “Temple of the Gods.”

However, all of these did not have time to sleep long in the Pantheon, as French history continued to move at a frantic pace. In the early 19th century, Napoleon signed the Concordat with the Pope, as a result of which the Pantheon became a church again, although its lower part continued to be used as a burial place for famous people. At the same time, work continued on decorating the church, and the painter Antoine Jean Gruau painted Napoleon and Clovis (the first king of France) together on the dome inside. He did this to show that Napoleon had not just seized power by force, but was a direct continuation of the kings of France.

The dome painted by Gros, in which Napoleon and Clovis can be seen together with Saint Genevieve. Image source: Wikipedia. When Napoleon falls, the Bourbons return and they rush to restore it to its former glory. First, the building returns to serve exclusively as a Catholic church, and second, Gros is asked to replace Napoleon's image in the dome with the image of Louis XVIII (which is why the original painting can now be found inCarnival Museum).

However, Louis XVI's brothers were unable to remain in power for long, and in 16 a revolution broke out, which resulted in the rise of King Louis Philippe I of the French. Louis Philippe wanted to flatter the supporters of the revolution and turned the church into a Pantheon again, but no one was buried there during his reign. What did happen was that it was decided to add to the facade the inscription "Aux Grands Hommes La Patrie Reconnaissante" which in Hebrew means "To the Great Men, the Grateful Fatherland."

With the fall of Louis Philippe from power in 1848, the short-lived Second Republic arose. It wanted to restore the building and turn it into the Pantheon, but shortly thereafter Napoleon III came to power, who, like his uncle, wanted to ingratiate himself with the church and so returned the building to its original purpose. Is this the end of the church/Pantheon saga? You made the French laugh.

Victor Hugo died just in time.

Napoleon III's reign lasted 18 years (1852-1870) and ended in a huge crash during the Franco-Prussian War, the Siege of Paris and the Commune that followed. After a bloody year, the Third Republic managed to consolidate its hold on France, but in the early years of its existence it was unpopular because the left hated it for its suppression of the Commune and the right generally wanted to bring back the Bourbons.

The republic needed a symbol that would give it legitimacy and fortunately in 1885 it got exactly what it was looking for. Victor Hugo With timing that could not have been better, he decided that more than eighty years on this earth was enough and died in May 1885 after a short illness.

Victor Hugo began his life as a royalist, but over the years he stopped supporting the monarchy and adopted more democratic values. Having become the most popular man in France after publishing Les Misérables, he became a republican symbol upon his death. The young republic spared no expense in organizing a magnificent funeral procession for him, attended by about a million citizens (a record that, to the best of my knowledge, has never been broken). This procession ended at the church of Sainte-Genevieve, which once again became the Pantheon, this time permanently (although in order not to offend public sentiment, the cross on the dome was never removed).

From that day on, the building continued to serve as the Pantheon of France, where only the nation’s greats are buried. Note that, unlike Victor Hugo, who was buried immediately in the Pantheon, those who were buried after him were first buried in a “regular cemetery.” Only some time after the burial can the government decide whether the person is worthy of being buried in the Pantheon or not.

And so some of those who inhabit the Pantheon, such as Alexandre Dumas, were “forced” to wait for the long-awaited entrance for a long time, while Simone Weil, for example, was buried there in a relatively short time. Here is the ceremony of transferring Dumas’s remains to the Pantheon, note the musketeers accompanying the coffin:

Interesting people buried in the Pantheon

Unlike the cemeteries of Paris, where you can find quite a few beautiful and impressive tombstones, you won't see many of them at the Pantheon. However, a visit to the church and crypts is highly recommended, both for the beauty of the church and because you can pay your last respects to some of the most important people who have influenced not only France, but all of humanity.

Here are some graves worth visiting and paying your last respects to those buried there:

Louis Braille 1809-1852

Louis Braille was not born blind, but as a result of an injury at the age of 3, which caused an eye infection, he lost his sight. Despite this, he was an excellent student and a gifted musician and during his studies he was exposed to the “night script” used by the blind. This script was very complicated and Louis decided to invent a different system.

The result was Braille, which revolutionized the way blind people read and write. Braille became a respected teacher and a respected musician, playing in severalThe famous churches of ParisHe died of tuberculosis at the age of 43, but “fortunately” for him, even though during the reign of Napoleon III the place returned to function as a church, they agreed to bury him here both because of the writing he invented and because of his musical career.

Walter 1694-1778

Voltaire (the pen name of François-Marie Arouet) is rightly considered the greatest French philosopher and writer of the 18th century. Because he opposed the Catholic Church during his lifetime, the Church did not allow him to be buried in Paris, and his friends were forced to bury him in a small monastery in the Champagne region called Scellières.

As you read before, after French Revolution The government decided that Voltaire deserved to be buried in the Pantheon and his remains were moved there in 1791. In 1814, there were rumors that his body had been kidnapped by radicals, and in 1897, his tomb was opened to verify that this was a false story (Voltaire continued to lie there peacefully).

Marie Curie 1867-1934

Marie and Pierre Curie were pioneers in the study of radioactivity. For their joint research, she won two Nobel Prizes (once in physics and once in chemistry). Marie Curie was highly respected both during her lifetime and after her death, and there is even an element (curium) named after her.

The remains of Marie and Pierre Curie were transferred to the Pantheon in 1995. Marie Curie thus became the first woman to be buried in the venerable place. This was a breakthrough that led to the burial of other important women such as Simon Weil.

If you would like to read a little more about Marie Curie, you are welcome to visit the article Pierre and Marie Curie – A Love Story.

The Three Writers' Room

Although there are no particularly beautiful tombstones here, it is highly recommended to enter this room because in one small room you will find the graves of three greats of French literature: Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, and Emile Zola.

I have already written about Hugo and Dumas, but here are a few words about Emile Zola, who is known to us all from the Dreyfus affair. Incidentally, they also wanted to bury the latter in the Pantheon, but this did not happen. Let's return to Emile Zola, who in my opinion is first and foremost a great writer thanks to the series of novels he wrote about the Rogon-Maccar family.

If you want to get to know him a little more in depth, I recommend you read the article: Emile Zola – A trip to Paris following the legacy of the author of “Je Accusation”.

The new tenants: from Misak Manushian to Robert Badinter

The Pantheon is not just a heritage site frozen in time, but a living place that continues to welcome the nation's heroes even today. In February 2024, the remains of Missac and Melina Manoushian, heroes of the French underground in World War II (who were both foreigners and communists, making their introduction here a particularly moving historical event), were interred here. In addition, Robert Badinter, the late French Minister of Justice who is known for abolishing the death penalty in France, was recently honored with the great honor of being commemorated in the Pantheon (a fascinating exhibition will also be on display in his memory until May 2026).

What else can you see at the Pantheon in Paris?

These were a number of interesting graves, but of course they are not the only graves there and there are many dozens of other VIPs (most of them quite unknown politicians and not known to the Israeli public) buried there. If you have already arrived there, it is recommended to walk around and stop by the grave of someone who interested you in order to learn about their life story. If you do this in the summer then you will not only get a history lesson but also a pleasant coolness which is quite a precious commodity in Paris in July-August.

When you come back up from the crypt, it is recommended to stop by Foucault's pendulum (after which Umberto Eco's famous book is also named). This is an interesting experiment conducted by the scientist Leon Foucault (1819-1868) that proves that the Earth rotates on its axis. How does he prove this? I did study 5 units of physics, but like any excellent student, I forgot all the material a second after the matriculation exam (unlike the less excellent students who forgot the material a second before the matriculation exam). As a result, I have no idea how he managed to prove this, but there is no doubt that there is something very beautiful about a pendulum moving in such a large and ornate space as the Pantheon. (Did you know? The pendulum was originally installed here in 1851 at the request of President Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, who wanted to invite Parisians to “see the Earth turn.” It is a huge 36-kg brass weight suspended from a 67-meter-long steel cable! Note that these days, due to restoration work on the structure, the pendulum has been removed from its usual place and is displayed under a glass cover, but it is definitely still there.)

The Pantheon of Paris: useful information

I hope this article has made you want to visit the Pantheon, whether to enjoy the beauty of the church or to visit the tombs of great figures. FranceBelow you will find all the necessary information.

How do we get there?

Address: Place du Pantheon, 75005

Metro station nearby: (Luxembourg (RER B.

Opening days and hours

Opening hours vary depending on the season (the place is open every day of the week):

• April 1 to October 31 (summer season): 10:00-18:30 (last entry at 17:45).
• November 1 to March 31 (winter season): 10:00-18:00 (last entry at 17:15).

The place is closed to visitors on January 1, May 1, and December 25.

Tickets

Although it is a type of church, entry to the Pantheon is not free. The price varies according to the season: a ticket costs 16 euros in the summer season (April to September), except on Wednesdays when the price drops to 13 euros. In the winter season (October to March) the regular rate is 13 euros. Young people under 18 (or young people under 25 who are residents of the European Union) are entitled to free entry. Tickets for the Pantheon can be purchased atLink thisNote that the Pantheon is included inParis Museum Card So if you bought it, you can enter the Pantheon at no additional charge (a treat!).

If you also intend to visitSainte Chapelle, you are welcome to buy the combined ticket for both attractions, as it will provide you with a 10% discount. You can buy it through theLink this.

Want to visit more cemeteries in Paris?

If this tour has “whet your appetite” and you want to visit more cemeteries in Paris, you are welcome to read the article. The Cemeteries of Paris If only the graves could talk.