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Panthéon
- Paris 5th
History
While Louis XV was taking care of his health, he promised that
if he recovered, he would build a church to replace the half-ruined
Abbey of St. Genevieve. However, due to the lack of funds, the project
did not begin until 1755. And the architect Soufflot designed a
building based on the Classical prototypes. This being a dome with
a Latin cross which is fronted by a Greek temple facade. During
the construction, Soufflet passed away and the church which is known
today as the Pantheon, was finally completed in 1789 - the year
of the French Revolution. This is a spectacular product of classical
design surmounted by a huge dome.
This church was built to be a vast mausoleum to "receive the
bodies of great men who died in the period of French liberty".
The windows were closed, thus enforcing the solemnity of the interior.
The building alternated between being a church and mausoleum throughout
the last century. In 1985, following the collapse of stone work
in the vaults, it has had to be closed for an indefinite period.
Yet, you can still visit the crypt.
In the crypt lies the mortal remains of Frances honored deads :
Mirabeau, Voltaire, Rousseau, Hugo and Zola joined recently by humanist
novelist André Malraux.
Just a little note : When Francois Mitterrand came into office
and being the first Socialist president of the Fifth Republic, the
first official visit was to the Pantheon. There, he laid down a
rose which is the symbol of the Socialist Party, in memory of Jean
Jaures, the Socialist leader who was murdered in 1914.
Design
The most spectacular aspect is the size of the Pantheon. On the
ground floor, in the form of a cross, it has a length of 110 m (352
ft) and a breadth of 85 m (272 ft.). The dome with its height of
85m (272 ft) inspired the physicist Leon Foucault to carry out his
first experiments with the pendulum in the middle of the 19th century.
He wanted to demonstrated the rotation of the earth on its axis.
St-Etienne-du-Mont
In the neighbourhood of the Pantheon on the corner of rue Clovis,
lies the sixteenth-century church of St.-Etienne-du-Mont. This church
combines Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque elements. Here, contains
the shrine of Saint Genevieve. This contains the shrine of Ste.Genevieve.
The space is divided into three aisles by free-standing pillars
connected by a narrow catwalk, and flooded with light by an exceptionally
tall clerestory. The only rood screen in Paris is also in this Renaissance-style
building. The clock tower Tour Clovis is in the Henri IV Iycee at
the side of the church. This is the last surviving part of the Abbaye
Sainte Genevieve. You reach the Sorbonne along the Rue Cujas. Founded
by the canon Robert de Sorbon, confessor to Saint Louis, this building
still contains a section of the Arts Faculty, and some of the offices
of the Paris Academy.
Practical Information:
Place du Panthéon, 75005 Paris
Open: Winter: 10 a.m.-5.30 p.m. - Summer: 9.30 a.m.-6.30 p.m.
Prices: Standard : 35,00 FF
Special rates : 23,00 FF
5,34 and 3,51 euros
Closed: Bank holidays
Metro: Cardinal Lemoine
RER:Luxembourg
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