St. Genevieve Church
Place du Pantheon, Paris, France
Description:
Saint Genevieve, revered in the Catholic and Orthodox churches, is the patroness of Paris. She was prayed to during wars and epidemics.
The Church of St. Genevieve, now the Pantheon, was built by architect J. J. Suffloh. This master also designed the Bolshoi Theatre in Lyon. Construction of the grand building of the Pantheon as the Church of St. Genevieve began in 1758 and lasted about 30 years.
The revolutionary authorities turned a beautiful new church into a necropolis for the burial of prominent people of France. However, the interior of the building was still decorated with large wall paintings from the life of St. Genevieve.
Visiting the Pantheon today, you can see the sculptures of Landowski, Enzhalber, Bartholomew, Gasca and Terroir, as well as the frescoes of the XIX century Puvi de Chavannes.
While in the Pantheon Square, visit House 10, where you will find the St. Genevieve Library. This is the only rich monastery library where the manuscripts of Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Moriac are kept.