Why go

The Panthéon rises over the Latin Quarter from the top of the Montagne Sainte-Geneviève, its great dome visible from across Paris. Louis XV ordered it as a church to Saint Geneviève, the patron saint of Paris, but by the time it was finished the Revolution had begun, and in 1791 it was turned into a mausoleum for the great men of the nation. Its pediment still reads “To great men, the grateful homeland”, though women have since joined them, from Marie Curie to Simone Veil and Josephine Baker.

Inside, the scale is overwhelming. The nave is vast, cool and filled with light, the walls are lined with murals of French history, and beneath your feet the crypt holds the tombs of writers, scientists and resistance heroes. It is an hour that explains a great deal about how France sees itself. New names are still added by decision of the President of the Republic, and each ceremony, broadcast across the country, is a national event.

What to see

  • Foucault’s pendulum. In 1851 Léon Foucault hung a pendulum from the dome to prove the Earth turns; a copy still swings today.
  • The crypt. The tombs of Voltaire and Rousseau face each other near the entrance, with Victor Hugo, Émile Zola, Alexandre Dumas and Marie Curie further along.
  • The murals. Puvis de Chavannes’s paintings of the life of Saint Geneviève are among the finest in the building.
  • The dome. Seen from inside, it rises high above the nave; the colonnade at the top is currently closed to visitors.

Plan your visit

The Panthéon opens every day from 10am. Between April and September it closes at 6.30pm, and between October and March at 6pm, with last admission 45 minutes before closing. On the first working Monday of each month it opens at noon. It closes early, at 5pm, on 24 and 31 December, and is closed on 1 January, 1 May and 25 December.

A ticket costs €13. Entry is free for EU residents under 26, and there are free conditions for children; check the official site for details. Tickets are sold at the entrance and online, and outside summer weekends the wait is usually short. The panoramic colonnade at the top of the dome, which used to offer one of the best views on the Left Bank, is closed for now.

Allow an hour to an hour and a half, and leave most of it for the crypt, where plaques and short texts explain who each figure was and why they were chosen. The building is cool all year, so bring a layer in summer too. Temporary exhibitions are held in the nave from time to time and are included in the ticket.

The nearest stations are Luxembourg on the RER B and Cardinal Lemoine on Metro line 10, both about seven minutes’ walk away. The walk up Rue Soufflot from the Luxembourg Gardens gives the best first view of the façade.

Nearby

The church of Saint-Étienne-du-Mont, next door, has the only surviving rood screen in Paris. The Luxembourg Gardens are ten minutes west, and the market street of Rue Mouffetard and Place de la Contrescarpe are a short walk south.