Pantheon in Paris

I was surprised to find out that there is a Pantheon in the middle of Paris. My understanding that the Pantheon is an ancient temple in Rome. I should know, I visited it before. I was thus surprised to see the Pantheon coming up in the map on my phone. It seems to be an important monument and I was already in the area I decided to pay it a visit. There is a bit of a walk from the Île de la Cité to the Pantheon, but it also lets me see more of the city away from the tourist spots. One could argue that the entire Paris itself is a tourist spot but I digress.

The Pantheon was originally planned to house the relics of Saint Genevieve, the patron saint of Paris. The king commissioned the building of the structure no doubt inspired by the original Pantheon in Rome. Unfortunately, the construction was interrupted by the French revolution and it was then decided that the Pantheon instead be dedicated to the heroes of the revolution. If you know your French revolution history, which I don’t, you would see several important names here. The Pantheon is design with a neoclassical architectural style and it is topped by a dome that is reminiscent of structures like the capitol building in Washington DC.

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