|
|
|
|
Pantheon Review
Read our Paris sights reviews. Or post your own.
Panthéon
- Address: Pl. du Pantheon, Quartier Latin, Paris | Map It
- Phone: 01-44-32-18-00
- www.monum.fr
- Category: Memorials/Monuments
- Location: Quartier Latin
Fodor's Review:
If you're thinking about monumental domed buildings, Rome has St-Peter's, London has St-Paul's, and Paris has the Pantheon, whose enormous dome dominates views of the left bank. A former church, it's now the burial place of France's most important citizens -- the list is a virtual who's who of France's cultural and political elite, including Voltaire, Zola, Dumas, Victor Hugo, Rousseau, and Marie Curie. Begun in 1764, the building was almost complete when the French Revolution erupted; meanwhile, Soufflot, the architect, had died, supposedly from worrying that the dome would collapse. He needn't have fretted so much: the dome is so perfect that Foucault used this space to test his famous pendulum. Today the vast neoclassical interior is entirely empty, except for the 19th century murals that line the walls and a model of Foucault's pendulum hanging from the center of the dome. The famous people are in the crypt, but the place looks more like an empty wine cellar than a hallowed burial ground. There is little info in English -- and none on the specific people buried here, so if you're a history buff, do your homework before you come.
- Cost: EUR 7
- Open: Apr.-Sept., daily 10-6:30; Oct.-Mar., daily 10-6
- Metro: Cardinal Lemoine; RER: Luxembourg
Get Advice From Other Travelers
- Amsterdam & Paris at night
8 responses; most recent on 09/25/2008, 08:50 pm - Paris Apartment Rental Robberies?
35 responses; most recent on 09/24/2008, 07:48 am - Crepes in Paris
13 responses; most recent on 09/23/2008, 06:54 pm - Two Vegans in Paris...Help!
18 responses; most recent on 09/22/2008, 06:08 pm
Visit the Travel Talk forums for help on planning your trip >>
Buy the Guidebook
-
$22.95
-
$18.95
Get the Fodor's Newsletter
Read the current issue
For more travel ideas, tips, and deals, sign up for the Fodor's newsletter here. Browse previous issues.
