Although with the same name, the Panthéon in Paris looks very much different from the Pantheon in Rome.
However, the podium does look the same as the one in Rome with soaring Roman Corinthian columns. From what I have found out, it was actually modelled after the Pantheon in Rome.
The inside of the Pantheon in Paris is grander. It was built as a church but was turned into a mausoleum upon completion. That explains the very church-like interior of a mausoleum.
The main dome is supported by for arches serving as gateways to the galleries.
A 67-m wire hangs from the middle of the dome with a 28-kg bob at the bottom end. This is the prominent Foucault's pendulum installed by the French physicist Léon Foucault in his experiment to demonstrate the rotation of the earth. This pendulum has been oscillating since 1851.
On the gallery walls, some huge paintings depicting the bible stories and French history are displayed.
The Panthéon now serves a burial ground for the prominent figures of France. Among others are Victor Hugo, the author of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame"; Joseph-Louis Lagrange, an Italian-born mathematician and astronomer who made great contribution in calculus; and the only lady who won the Nobel Prize for two times, Marie Curie.
2 comments:
omg! such beautiful architecture!! when u go rome! so envy!
Hi yienyien, I was in Rome in 2006. This is the Panthéon in Paris, where I visited in June of 2009.
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