The Panthéon

Today we took a walk in the 5th district, past the Panthéon.  It was originally built as a church to honor Sainte Geneviève.  After the French Revolution, the building alternated between being used as a church and for secular purposes until 1885, when it was made a civic mausoleum dedicated to the great men and women of France.

The Panthéon was built in the neoclassical style and modeled on the Pantheon in Rome.  Twenty-two Corinthian columns line the portico.  Construction was completed in 1790.

The interior contains a mix of religious artwork depicting the life of Sainte Geneviève and monuments honoring the country of France.

At first glance it seems like any other church or cathedral until you realize that there is no altar.  Where the altar would be is instead a grouping called The National Convention, which shows a female personification of France (called "Marianne") surrounded by patriots and revolutionaries.

For the most part the ceiling has been left bare of frescoes, which gives the interior space a light and bright feeling.

The exception is the central dome which has a colorful fresco depicting the Apotheosis of Sainte Genevieve by Antoine Gros.  The dome is constructed with three layers.  The fresco is on the middle layer and is seen through an oculus (hole) in the first layer.  The third layer of the dome is the outer layer, built of stone and covered with a lead roof.

French physicist Léon Foucault experimented here in the Panthéon with a pendulum suspended from the center of the 272-foot dome.  In 1851 he was able to tangibly demonstrate the earth's rotation on its axis by watching the apparent "movement" of a pendulum swinging in an arc (it is an illusion, as the pendulum's arc is stationary -- the earth is what is moving.)  Too complicated for me to explain in a few sentences, the wikipedia article actually has good animation with a scientific explanation to show how it works.  There is still a pendulum on display in the Panthéon, here it is in action:



We then went down to the enormous crypt, which is where all the great men of France rest for eternity.  Flanking the entryway are the tombs of Voltaire and Rousseau.  Clockwise from left: Voltaire's tomb, Rousseau's tomb, statue of Voltaire.

Three literary greats are buried in the same crypt: Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, and Emile Zola.  The remains of Dumas were only just moved to the Panthéon in 2002.  On the right are Pierre and Marie Curie.  Marie Curie is the first woman to be buried in the Panthéon for her own achievements (the first woman interred there was someone's wife).

France has high expectations of its current citizens, because there are several completely empty crypts, just waiting to be filled with "great men".

We came back upstairs just as a tour was leaving for the dome.  You can only go up there as part of the tour, so we joined in.  The birds-eye view allowed us to see the Foucault Pendulum from above.

Another view of the main floor.

Getting up close and personal with the ceiling allows you to see the damage that gravity and time can cause.  Other areas were covered with netting to prevent bystanders below from falling stonework.

We were then led outside and climbed more steps to walk around the exterior terrace on the dome.

The views were pretty great, and you could walk all the way around the dome to get a 360-degree view of the city.

Eiffel Tower, Invalides, Saint-Sulpice with La Défense behind

Notre Dame with the Pompidou center behind

The church of Saint-Étienne-du-Mont, just around the corner

And a couple more snaps of us enjoying the view.