Originally built as a church honoring Sainte Genevieve, the patron saint of Paris (she reportedly persuaded Attila the Hun to ravage elsewhere), and one of the finest examples of neoclassical architecture in the city, the Pantheon also boasts the final resting place of France’s “pantheon” of greats:

Emile Zola, Marie and Pierre Curie, Voltaire, Rousseau, Victor Hugo, Alexander Dumas top the lists of scores of French heroes and heroines of politics, science and the arts.

Located in the 5th arrondissement, a stones throw from the Sorbonne, on the Montagne Sainte-Geneviève, the Panthéon is at the end of rue Soufflot (he designed the Pantheon) and looks out over the Jardin de Luxembourg.

Directions
Exit the metro at Cardinal Lemoine, turn up rue du Cardinal Lemoine and then right onto rue Clovis. The Pantheon is up two blocks on your left. You will also pass St. Etienne du Mont on the right, just before you strike the Pantheon. Ste Genevieve’s remains are buried there.

Entrance
One, off of the Place du Pantheon.

Admissions
€7 for adult.

Hours
Open daily 10am-6pm.

Map 
Pick up a small handy (and free) guide when you enter the building.