Louis XV built the Panthéon as a church to thank Saint Genevieve for recovering from illness, but the Revolution had other plans — it became a mausoleum for France's great minds instead. Voltaire, Rousseau, Marie Curie, and Victor Hugo are buried in the crypt beneath a dome you can see from half the city.
- Foucault's pendulum still swings from the dome, proving the Earth's rotation exactly as it did in 1851
- The crypt holds 80 people, but only a handful get in each century — being interred here is one of France's highest honors
- Climb to the colonnade for one of the best 360° views in Paris, on a separate ticket from April to October
- Hours
- 10:00–18:30 (Oct–Mar until 18:00)
- Price
- €13, free under 18
- Tip
- It's far less crowded than Notre-Dame or the Louvre — a good rainy-day alternative with real payoff.
Nearby
- J Jardin du Luxembourg · garden
- S Sorbonne · university
- R Rue Mouffetard · market street