We will now have a look at the Paris Pantheon. The best way to approach the building is probably arriving from the Luxembourg gardens... and when you turn around, you can see the Eiffel Tower.
What now is a secular building to honour some prestigious French personalities was originally thought to replace the old Sainte-Geneviève church (see yesterday’s post). The initiative was taken by Louis XV in 1744 as a gesture of gratitude for having recovered from what could have been a fatal illness thanks to his prayers to St. Genevieve.
The architect, J-G Soufflot (1713-80), planned for a neoclassical design, inspired by Greek and Roman monuments. The construction started in 1758 but was only finished after Soufflot’s death in 1789 and his plans were not entirely respected. 1789 was also the year of the Revolution and the new anti-clerical governors decided to use the building to a mausoleum for great French personalities. Depending on the regimes, it was again twice converted to a catholic church, but since 1885 it has been a temple for accommodating the remains of great French personalities, mainly intellectuals.
Wall paintings, statues... of course give tribute to different historical events, but St. Geneviève occupies a large part. The crypt has still a lot of free space. Generally you are not buried directly at the Pantheon, but it’s only later that decisions are made to transfer the remains here. Among the occupants you can find Lannes, Voltaire, de Bougainville, Hugo, Zola, Gambetta, Jaurès, Jean Moulin, Malraux, Dumas (the dad), Pierre & Marie Curie (the only woman … so far)... Maybe a few words about a curiosity, the “Foucault pendulum”: In 1851, the first official demonstration was made here - the physical proof that the earth is rotating. This is a copy of the 67 (220 ft) m long wire and the 28 kg (62 lbs) heavy ball, now permanently installed. An original pendulum created by Foucault (1819-68) can be found in the “Arts et Métiers” museum (Umberto Eco wrote about it and Cergie posted about it). If you wish to understand how it works, you may go here.
What now is a secular building to honour some prestigious French personalities was originally thought to replace the old Sainte-Geneviève church (see yesterday’s post). The initiative was taken by Louis XV in 1744 as a gesture of gratitude for having recovered from what could have been a fatal illness thanks to his prayers to St. Genevieve.
The architect, J-G Soufflot (1713-80), planned for a neoclassical design, inspired by Greek and Roman monuments. The construction started in 1758 but was only finished after Soufflot’s death in 1789 and his plans were not entirely respected. 1789 was also the year of the Revolution and the new anti-clerical governors decided to use the building to a mausoleum for great French personalities. Depending on the regimes, it was again twice converted to a catholic church, but since 1885 it has been a temple for accommodating the remains of great French personalities, mainly intellectuals.
Wall paintings, statues... of course give tribute to different historical events, but St. Geneviève occupies a large part. The crypt has still a lot of free space. Generally you are not buried directly at the Pantheon, but it’s only later that decisions are made to transfer the remains here. Among the occupants you can find Lannes, Voltaire, de Bougainville, Hugo, Zola, Gambetta, Jaurès, Jean Moulin, Malraux, Dumas (the dad), Pierre & Marie Curie (the only woman … so far)... Maybe a few words about a curiosity, the “Foucault pendulum”: In 1851, the first official demonstration was made here - the physical proof that the earth is rotating. This is a copy of the 67 (220 ft) m long wire and the 28 kg (62 lbs) heavy ball, now permanently installed. An original pendulum created by Foucault (1819-68) can be found in the “Arts et Métiers” museum (Umberto Eco wrote about it and Cergie posted about it). If you wish to understand how it works, you may go here.
You can find some of these pictures on my photo-blog.
26 comments:
Il est fascinant ce pendule de Foucault! Et hommage à Foucault lui-même un des fondateurs de la photo...
Thank you! Now I can walk with my younger daughter there again :)
It was a hot day about fifteen years ago and of course I did not seen all those details, what you are showing now.
All those famous names give to the place a special atmosphere, if you thinking there their lives and their works.
Good tuesday to you, Peter!
Sorry, the word "are" was falling down during this long journey from Joensuu to Paris and it should be Tuesday :)
I liked the first photo very much.
We also have similarly described things as how to see the time w.r.t position of Sun etc.
Cuckoo
Non qseulement tu nous foffre une visite complète de ce beau monument mais j'apprends plein de détails histoiriques, c'est formidable.
L'Eglise Saint-Etienne du mont est très belle avec ses rampes d'escaliers en "dentelle". On faisait de belles choses dans les temps lointains.
This is one of my favorite places in Paris, very nice and superb.
Great post
Il y a que Marie en tant que méritante personne, mais il y a aussi les épouses des grands hommes qui y gisent, non ? J'ai la flemme de faire des recherches.
Un peu tristou comme bâtiment pour s'y promener, mais on peut faire de belles photos la preuve :
J'aime beaucoup ta photo du dessus par son cadrage
En tout cas, ça me plairait pas d'être enterrée là
Je ne sais ce qu'il en est pour les pendules originaux, il m'a été dit que celui du musée n'est pas l'original. Là encore je suis trop lazy pour faire des recherches.
Et merci pour le lien vers mon message, maintenant j'attends que tu ailles au musée des arts et métiers à ton tour
;o)
PS : Mitterand y a fait son cinoche avec sa rose.
Et Malraud pour les cendres de Moulin qui parait-il n'ont jamais été retrouvées et sont là virtuellement.
Bon, je suis féministe un peu sur les bords alors quand je lis que seule Marie Curie est enterrée là-bas, cela me fait grimper aux murs! Mais je suis vite redescendue parce que je suis en train de travailler et ce n'est pas très agréable de travailler lorsqu'on est accrochée à un mur. C'est une belle visite que tu nous offres là.
Mais je trouve l'endroit très froid et très impersonnel. Bises et bonne journée
Je connaissais le pendule des Arts et Métiers, il faudra que je vienne voir celui-ci (ça me rafraîchira la mémoire sur le fonctionnement...)
What wonderful roofs & columns, what lovely wall paintings & sculptures!!
The tombs are very interesting.
The more I see & read your blog The more desire I have to visit the place. I hope I shall be able to soon sometime in the near future...
Otherwise I shall have to contend myself with Peters Blog :)
Thank you for showing us the most exquisite sights in the world!
When I see these beautiful photographs, Peter, I am always asking myself, "who paid for these buildings?" I mean they didn't have regular property taxes then or did they?
Et la rue Soufflot? Est-ce qu'elle a reçu son nom en souvenir de l'architecte, ou est-ce un autre Soufflot qui à soufflé le nom aux décideurs intellectuels français? Et les décideurs au féminin, sont-ce des décidatrices ou des décideuses?
il est vraiment magnifique le panthéon (et le pendule de foucault est vraiment original, il vaut a lui tout seul la visite), c'est un des plus beaux monuments de Paris. tu n'es pas monte jusqu'a sa colonnade (remarque c'est peut etre interdit maintenant), il y a une vue sur Paris magnifique.
Bonsoir Peter,
Au-delà d'un post fourni en indications, remarques et photos bien sûr, je me pose la question, devant de tels monuments, j'imagine les tours sur nous-même, les multiples attitudes et retournements d'appareil pour choisir l'angle idoine....
Bonne soirée et à bientôt.
My God you've been productive last week and this (only started) Huge amount of info. What I liked personally were the little personal things that registered from the Cimetiere Montparnasse article. Quite a few names there that have deep memories for me - Clara Haskil from the musical world for example. Tristan Tzara whose Zurich connection with Dada I have been reading about recently (and Man Ray alongside). Susan Sontag was a surprise, don't know why, and Brassai of course. Many thanks!
Je ne suis pas un fanatique du Panthéon, je le trouve gros et laid mais la coupole est vraiment bien rendue.
A Paris, il y a quelques plafonds magnifiques, verrières ou coupoles : les Galeries Lafayettes, bien sur, mais aussi, de l'autre coté de la rue le siège de la SG, au 29 Haussmann.
Cela se visite pour les journées du patrimoine, mais le reste du temps, on peut quand même rentrer.
therese:
Oui, fascinant ..., tu as compris comment ça marche?
leenam:
By bloffing, I believe you now also have "new eyes"?
cuckoo:
Yes there have been many means to handle these issues, well before the GPS etc...
claude:
Heureusement que nous avons encore quelques artisans! :-)
matritensis:
Thanks!
cergie:
Je crois que Marie C est vraiment la seule (et encore elle était polonaise)! Un scandale!
Je crois que le pendule du musée est un original, utilisé par lui, mais ce n'est pas la "première", ni celui utilisé au Panthéon.
le fantôme:
Je suis d'accord; tu as raison de grimper! Bises!
alice:
C'est déjà bien qu'il te suffit de refraîchir! Donc, tu as déjà compris! Bravo!
mona:
I really wish to see you here (I trust that if you come you will contact me)!
abraham:
Taxes have always existed, only the forms have changed!
hpy:
Pour Soufflot, la réponse est OUI! Pour la deuxième question je n'ai pas de réponse!
olivier:
Non, on ne peut pas monter; tant pis!
mathilde:
Oui, des fois il faut se tordre un peu! A bientôt!
richard:
Yes, there are many inetersting names there ... and the list could be made monger!
alain:
J'ai déjà posté sur Lafayette et Printemps et j'ai essayé avec SG, mais on m'a "confisqué" mes photos! Interdiction!
Je ne suis jamais rentrée dans le Panthéon, je vais faire une liste des choses à visiter, avec toi pour guide, ça va augmenter le niveau de ma culture, on apprend à tout âge!
I've never seen the inside of Pantheon, so thank you for magnificent photo of this interior.
I also like the church, St- Etienne-du Mont. It is interesting fret works of double staircase. The complicated style of Renaissance, Roman, & Gothic influences.
Good work, Peter.
lyliane:
Oui, ce n'est jamais trop tard, c'est aussi ce que j'essaye de me dire!
yoko:
Thanks! Very happy to see you on my blog, but would much appreciate to know who you are! :-) (There is no profile behind your signature.)
Beautiful photos, Peter! I did not have the chance to see inside Le Panthéon during my visit to Paris, but did see a replica of Foucault's pendulum back wghen it was on display at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC, before it was removed in 1998. It's quite extraordinary!
I want to go there, for many reasons, but mostly to see Marie Curie's crypt.
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