INTERVIEW - How did the Pantheon become the sanctuary of the great figures of the nation?

2024-03-22T04:08:59.630Z

Highlights: Virginie Girod and Barbara Wolffer retrace the eventful journey of the Temple of the Republic. Originally, the Pantheon was not intended to be a national necropolis. It's a church! Louis XV, who left to inspect his troops in Metz in 1744, fell ill and invoked the protection of Sainte-Geneviève. As political regimes changed, the building was returned to the Church several times. The entry of Victor Hugo in 1885 definitively ratified the status of national Necropolis. The Pantheon has since become ‘the republican place par excellence’

"Great men the grateful country". You probably know this sentence engraved on the pediment of the Pantheon. But what do you know about the history of this essential monument of the capital? In an exceptional interview recorded in the heart of the building, Virginie Girod and Barbara Wolffer, the administrator of the Pantheon, retrace the eventful journey of the Temple of the Republic. Their exchange is also available in video version, from noon! “You really need to know the history of the Pantheon to understand this juxtaposition of a symbol that is both religious and obviously very republican,” explains Barbara Wolffer. Originally, the Pantheon was not intended to be a national necropolis. It's a church! Louis XV, who left to inspect his troops in Metz in 1744, fell ill and invoked the protection of Sainte-Geneviève. Cured, “he promised the Génovéfain monks [order of Sainte-Geneviève, editor’s note] to rebuild their church” says the administrator of the Pantheon. 20 years later, the first stone was laid. The plan of the Pantheon, in the form of a Greek cross, betrays the first religious vocation of the monument. The work was completed while the French Revolution shook the country. The Sainte-Geneviève church is not yet consecrated and the idea of ​​worship given to great men is asserted. “The first idea to transform this church into a Pantheon was submitted by the Marquis de Villette. He was looking for a place for Voltaire, whose remains were then on private land,” recalls the administrator of the Pantheon. . But it was following the death of Mirabeau in 1791 that the young National Assembly decided to allocate the place to receive the ashes of great men. The story does not end there. As political regimes changed, the building was returned to the Church several times. In total, the Pantheon experienced no less than five changes of status in the 19th century. The entry of Victor Hugo in 1885 definitively ratified the status of national necropolis. The Pantheon has since become “the republican place par excellence”. It currently has 83 occupants, including only seven women. With its 26 vaults, up to 300 people can theoretically rest in the Pantheon! Themes covered: Pantheon, Republic, French Revolution, Church