The Panthéon began as a church dedicated to Saint Geneviève and became a national mausoleum during the Revolution. Its neoclassical dome and portico now frame an evolving memorial to people whom France chooses to honor.
Quick facts
The Panthéon began as the church of Sainte-Geneviève, commissioned by Louis XV.
It became a national mausoleum during the Revolution in 1791.
The building definitively retained its role as a Panthéon after Victor Hugo’s burial in 1885.
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The Panthéon stands on the Montagne Sainte-Geneviève in Paris’s Latin Quarter. Its monumental dome is visible from across the city, but the building’s identity has never been fixed. It began as the Church of Sainte-Geneviève, intended to honor Paris’s patron saint; after the Revolution, it became a civic temple and a national resting place. Since 1885, when Victor Hugo was buried here, that memorial role has endured.
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