LE PANTHÉON
Read moreChurch of Sainte-Geneviève until the Revolution, the Panthéon was built at the same time as the neighboring Ecole de Droit (Sorbonne Law School). It is located on the eponymous square, which was laid out around 1770 on land once owned by the abbey of Sainte-Geneviève. The square was subsequently redeveloped in the 19th century, notably following the construction of the Sainte-Geneviève library. Commissioned by King Louis XV as a tribute to Saint Geneviève, construction of the Pantheon began in 1755. It was directed by Jacques-Germain Soufflot from 1758, then by Maximilien Brébion and Jean-Baptiste Rondelet. They were completed in 1793. From the outset, they revealed the presence of Gallo-Roman clay extraction shafts nestling some 25 m below ground level. The building, 110 m long and 84 m wide, takes the form of a Greek cross with four naves topped by a dome at their intersection, a bold elevation - in reality a triple dome - under which Louis XV had wished to display the reliquary of Saint Geneviève. Today, the exterior may seem austere, but in the 18th century, the facades were filled with some forty bays, and two 40 m-high bell towers. At that time, two other churches were located on Mont Sainte-Geneviève (the former 12th-century abbey church on what is now Rue Clovis, and the 15th-century church of Saint-Etienne-du-Mont). This configuration, among others, motivated the transformation of Louis XV's church into a republican temple to house the tombs of "génovéfains (regular canons of the Order of Sainte-Geneviève) and Frenchmen illustrious for their talents, virtues and services to the fatherland". The first great man to enter was Victor Hugo. Among the personalities laid to rest in the crypt are Voltaire, Rousseau, Jean Moulin, Pierre and Marie Curie, Simone Veil, Josephine Baker... The wall of the monument and the staircase leading to the crypt also feature inscriptions and plaques honoring personalities who have also left their mark on French history: General Delestraint, Alain-Fournier, Charles Péguy, Victor Segalen, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Henri Bergson, François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture and the Justes de France. The decor is also well worth a visit, with works by Puvis de Chavannes, Gros and Cabanel... This place of collective memory is well worth a visit, reflecting the architectural and artistic know-how of different eras, as well as the ups and downs of a turbulent history.
MUSÉUM NATIONAL D’HISTOIRE NATURELLE - JARDIN DES PLANTES
The museum exhibits a rich collection of plants and objects, all of which ...Read more
THE ARENAS OF LUTETIA
This Gallo-Roman amphitheater was built in the 1st century and rediscovered ...Read more
ARAB WORLD INSTITUTE
A concrete, steel and glass institute surrounded by a square patio for ...Read more
GRANDE MOSQUÉE DE PARIS
Mosque built in the 1920s by the French Republic, inaugurated by President ...Read more
MUSÉE DE CLUNY / MUSÉE NATIONAL DU MOYEN ÅGE
Museum housing a set of six tapestries woven around 1500 and depicting the ...Read more
JARDIN DES PLANTES
Visit the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, where you can observe nearly 1,000 ...Read more
MUSÉE DE LA PRÉFECTURE DE POLICE (MUSEUM OF POLICE HEADQUARTERS)
A museum that traces the history of the police, housing evidence and ...Read more
GREAT GALLERY OF EVOLUTION
Natural History Museum in Paris, where 7,000 specimens are on display, ...Read more
GALLERY OF PALAEONTOLOGY AND COMPARATIVE ANATOMY
Comparative anatomy gallery with skeleton collection and palaeontology ...Read more
ZOO OF THE GARDEN OF PLANTS
Guided tours with the caretakers in the tree lanes, to know and understand ...Read more
THE GARDEN OF THE CLUNY MUSEUM - NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE MIDDLE AGES
Read moreNo, this garden is not dating from the Middle Ages, but it's so easy to cheat the style! Created in 2000 by landscapers Eric Ossart and Arnaud Maurières, this modern park draws inspiration from the Cluny Museum, close to the premises. They are followed with pleasure and interest, especially those on its terrace where plants are grouped by theme: vegetable (cabbage, onion, chives…), medicinal plants (sage, hysope, street, absinthe…), celestial garden (roses, violets, daisies, pasquerets, read, iris), love garden (thyme ornaments, eillets…). To see again, this time in the square opposite the museum: the carpet thousand flowers, inspired by the tapestries that form part of the collections of this institution.
LA PLACE MONGE
Place adjacent to Polytechnique, at the crossroads of the Jardin des ...Read more
THE CHURCH OF SAINT-SEVERIN
Read moreThe first building erected here dates from the life of the century, and it was demolished in the thirteenth century to accommodate a new construction. When a fire fell victim a few decades later, the church was rebuilt in a flamboyant Gothic style (xve century). The ornamental elements come mostly from other Parisian places of worship. Sumptuous stained glass windows, set up during the restoration of the building in the nineteenth century, adorn the windows. The most recent dates are from the twentieth century, the oldest of the xive. Not to miss in the chorus: the species of mineral forest formed by the torsaid pillars and the veins of the vault. Note that in the seventeenth century the Great Lady (aka the Duchess of Montpensier) financed as a member of the parish the creation of an oval chapel built on Jules Hardouin Mansart's plans. This includes "Miserere", a series of engravings of Georges Rouault (1913).
SQUARE VIVIANI
A square featuring a Robinier, a North American tree named after a botanist ...Read more
MUSÉE CURIE
Museum featuring a collection of objects tracing the history of ...Read more
ÉGLISE SAINT-ETIENNE-DU-MONT
Flamboyant Gothic and Renaissance church in ParisRead more
COLLÈGE DES BERNARDINS
Cultural center offering exhibitions, film screenings, concerts, meetings ...Read more
THE VAL-DE-GRACE
The fascinating story of the church and convent of Val-de-Grâce, built by ...Read more
THE COLLÈGE DE FRANCE
Unique school that does not prepare for any degree, buildings built under ...Read more