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.