Photo French Revolution1791 church Sainte-Geneviève becomes Panthéon

Dimanche 30 septembre 2007 7 30 /09 /2007 10:33

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April 3, 1791: church Sainte-Geneviève becomes Panthéon.
27 / 48°50’46.29’’ N 2°20’45.64’’ E / 03.04.2004 / 11H47 - 14H02 T.U.

Le Panthéon - Place du Panthéon - Montagne Sainte-Geneviève - 75005 Paris - Department of Paris -
Île-de-France (region) - France - Europe - Northern Hemisphere - Earth - Solar system - Milky Way

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King Louis XV vowed in 1744 that if he recovered from an illness he would replace the ruined church of Sainte-Geneviève (see entry Genevieve) with an edifice worthy of the patron saint of Paris. The Marquis of Marigny was entrusted with the work. He had sponsored the architect Soufflot, whom he chose for the construction of the new Église Sainte-Geneviève (today the "Panthéon"), a major work in the neoclassical style. The overall design was that of a Greek cross with a massive portico of Corinthian columns. Its ambitious lines called for a vast building 110 metres long by 84 metres wide, and 83 metres high. No less vast was its crypt.

The foundations were laid in 1758, but due to financial difficulties, it was only completed after Soufflot's death by his pupil, Jean-Baptiste Rondelet, in 1789. As it was completed at the start of the French Revolution, the new Revolutionary government ordered it to be changed from a church to a mausoleum for the interment of great Frenchmen.

The inscription above the entrance reads AUX GRANDS HOMMES LA PATRIE RECONNAISSANTE ("To great men the grateful homeland"). The absence of a verb in French emphasizes that the implicit notion of honour is given from the great men to the homeland. By burying its great men in the Pantheon, the Nation wants to acknowledge the honour it received from them. As such its entrance is severely restricted and is allowed only by a parliamentary act for "National Heroes".

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