The Pantheon

In 1744, Louis XV attributed his recovery from serious illness to prayers made to Saint Genevieve, the patron Saint of Paris, and pledged to delicate a prestigious church to her name.  In 1755, design of the new basilica was  entrusted to Jacques-Germain Soufflot, an archititect whose ambition was to out do the church of St. Peter in Rome.
In 1791, the monument was turned into the National Pantheon.  Beginning in 1885 with the funeral of  Victor Hugo, it became the final resting place for famous people associated with Paris and France.