Discover the history of France at the Basilica of Saint-Denis, the final resting place of the kings and queens of France, and at the Panthéon, dedicated to the great figures of the French Republic.
The Basilica of Saint-Denis was the church of a powerful abbey and major pilgrimage site in the Middle Ages. The destiny of the Basilica of Saint-Denis was entwined with royalty when it became a burial site for the kings and queens of France. Today it contains over seventy sculpted tombs, including those of Dagobert, François I, Catherine de' Medici and Louis XVI.
The Panthéon was originally a religious building dedicated to St. Genevieve, the patron saint of Paris. In 1791, the French Revolution transformed the monument into a temple to the great figures of France. Throughout the 19th century, it alternated between religious and patriotic purposes with the changing political regimes. Since 1885, when Victor Hugo was interred in the Panthéon, it has become a temple to the great figures of France: Voltaire, Rousseau, Zola, Pierre and Marie Curie.