The neoclassical building in Paris that houses the tombs of famous French citizens is the Panthéon. It stands on the Montagne Sainte-Geneviève in the Latin Quarter and is one of France’s most recognizable monuments.
Jacques-Germain Soufflot designed it for King Louis XV as a church dedicated to Saint Genevieve, Paris’s patron saint. Construction began in 1758 and was completed in 1790, during the upheaval of the French Revolution. In 1791, the National Constituent Assembly converted the church into a mausoleum for distinguished French citizens, inspired by Rome’s ancient Pantheon.
The crypt contains figures including Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Victor Hugo, Émile Zola, Louis Braille, Marie Curie, Pierre Curie, Simone Veil, and Josephine Baker. Interment is a national honor and generally requires an official decision; not every person honored there is buried in the crypt.
A common mix-up is the Pantheon in Rome, which inspired the Paris monument but is a separate building. The Paris Panthéon’s inscription, “Aux grands Hommes, la Patrie reconnaissante,” means “To great men, the grateful nation.”