 PantheonSecular crypt
Address: Place du Panthéon - (Angle street of the New Bridge)
75005 - 5th Arrondissement
Paris
Nearest Bus or Train:métro: Cluny-la-Sorbonne. RER: Luxembourg
Open Hours:1st Apr- 30th Sep: 9:30a-6:30p M-Su, 1st Oct-31st Mar: 10a-5:30p M-Su
Erected between 1764 and 1790, this neoclassical building was commissioned by King Louis XV in honour of Saint-Genevieve who had cured him from a grave illness. The Revolution secularised it quickly and made it a Temple de la Raison. Today, visitors admire the doric columns of the crypt, the resting place of famous writers and philosophers such as Emile Zola, Victor Hugo, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Voltaire, the scientists Pierre and Marie Curie, and Andre Malraux (minister under General Charles de Gaulle's presidency). Its 83 metre high dome looks like that of Saint Paul's in London and that of the Invalides. The façade is inspired by the Roman Pantheon. The monument dedicated to Diderot and its frescoes of Saint-Genevieve are particularly fascinating. Admission:: adults (EUR 5.33),12-25 yrs (EUR 3.50), under-12s free
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