| This article is about the landmark in Paris. You may be looking for the landmark in Rome. |
- "In an unprecedented move, the assembly have decreed that Citizen Mirabeau will be given a state funeral, in the abbey church of St-Genevieve! Now to be known as the Pantheon, it will serve as the final resting place of the heroes of the revolution!"
- ―Le Patriote on the Pantheon, 1792.[src]
The Panthéon is a former church located in Paris, France. The building was originally dedicated to Saint Genevieve, but now primarily serves as a burial place for esteemed countrymen. The Panthéon stands 60 meters above the Seine and is the high point of Paris' left bank.
History[]
In 1744, while suffering from a serious illness, King Louis XV swore to replace the ruined Abbey of St Genevieve with a new church if he survived. Following his recovery, construction on the building began in 1755 and ended around 1790.[1]
In April 1791, the death of Mirabeau prompted a desire to honor exceptional French citizens that had served their country. Consequently, the Sainte-Geneviève church was transformed into the "Panthéon of great men", a secular mausoleum of sorts. Mirabeau's remains were placed there, but when his secret correspondence with King Louis XVI was later revealed to the populace, they turned against him.[1]
In May 1794, Arno Dorian and a team of Assassins were tasked with the retrieval of Assassin relics from Mirabeau's crypt beneath the Panthéon, before the Templars and a mob of angry civilians could get to them. Once they acquired the artifacts, they escaped the building; Mirabeau's remains were subsequently removed from the Panthéon.[2]
Over the years, the Panthéon changed hands several times, from church to state, eventually settling on the latter. Today the building houses the bodies of some of France's greatest heroes, including Voltaire, Marie Curie, and Victor Hugo.[1]
Behind the scenes[]
In Assassin's Creed: Unity, the Panthéon has a repeated decoration in the tympana and the inscription "Aux grands hommes la Patrie reconnaissante" ("To the great men, from a grateful nation."). The original decoration had more religious themes including a host of angels and Saint Genevieve, but it was destroyed and a new revolutionary motif with the inscription was finished in 1793, though that was not the contemporary pedimental sculpture which was revealed in 1837.[3]
Gallery[]
Appearances[]
- Assassin's Creed: Unity (first appearance)
- Assassin's Creed: Unity companion app
