The Panthéon, originally built between 1758 and 1790 by Jacques-Germain Soufflot as a church, was secularized during the Revolution in 1791 to honor France’s greatest citizens. It oscillated between religious and civic use before becoming a steadfast mausoleum in 1885 with Victor Hugo’s entombment. Notable features—including Foucault’s Pendulum and the crypt—make it a monument to France’s intellectual legacy.
