Shuttle from Pantheon in Paris to Paris airports

History and visit the Pantheon in Paris

Part of the historical monuments, the Pantheon is the great neoclassical building which is located in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, on the Pantheon in the Latin Quarter. It can be seen in the same area the Lycee Henri IV, the Faculty of Law, Library Sainte-Geneviève, the mayor of the 5th District and the Saint-Etienne-du-Mont church. The Centre for National Monuments supports the management of the building ensuring public access.

Presented in the form of a Greek cross, the building is 110 m long and 84 m wide. A dome 83 m in height serves as a crown, having a skylight. It has four galleries. David d’Angers proceeded to ornament the main facade above a triangular pediment is in the center, the Republic, right, history, symbolized by the great people of the state and students, to left, Science, represented by various great scholars such as philosophers, artists, writers … Academic painters like Cabanel, Bonnat, Puvis de Chavannes are responsible for the interior decoration. The portal is armed shaped stones that are invisible metallic materials.

The Pantheon replaces the Church of St. Genevieve. Louis XV suffered a serious illness in 1744. For his recovery, he asked that a church dedicated to St. Genevieve was erected. The architect Jacques-Germain Soufflot undertook plan it. Construction began on August 1, 1758. A machine to crush the stones was created to work. Mathematical calculations were for the first time required for the construction of a monument. They served to assess the extensive and strength of materials.

The book was the subject of much criticism. The architect Pierre Patte gave his opinion at the time about the dome as the bases were not strong point for the wear. The rumor about the collapse of the building gained momentum in the capital. Mercier could not stop talking about his “Tableau de Paris”. Soufflot died in 1780. With the financial problems caused by the war, this loss greatly delayed construction. Associates Soufflot, Jean-Baptiste Rondelet and Maximilian Brébion finished  the building in 1790 by making some changes to the original plan. To support the dome, they replaced the columns designed by Soufflot by massive pillars.

Imitating England on the fact that the castle of Westminster served as tombs for great men, a proposal was launched about the Sainte-Geneviève to accommodate the unique personalities of France. So it was a decree of 4 April 1791. The building between 1791 and 1793 became a pantheon for a secular monument to the great men of the nation. The architect Quatremère Quincy was in charge of changing places. He took the lantern and bell towers and suppressed most of the windows.

Turnovers supervened later on the use of the building. Although he was devoted to the burial of great men, some makers proclaimed that the place can simultaneously receive religious ceremonies such as the imperial decree of 20 February 1806, the decrees of 6 November 1851 and 22 March 1852. The Church of Sainte-Geneviève no longer existed in 1885 when the burial of Victor Hugo in the Pantheon. It will be at rest for the great personalities honored by the Republic. Include the architect Soufflot, chemist Marcellin Berthelot, the philosopher Descartes … Sophie Berthelot and Marie Curie are the only women who are buried there.