Pantheon- Sainte Genevieve
1744 – Louis
XV is gravely ill in Metz while on campaign during the war of the Austrian
succession. He vows to build a great church if cured.
1755 – The
Superintendant of the King’s buildings the Marquis de Marigny (brother of Mme
de Pompadour) commissions the architect Jean-Germain Soufflot to build a new
church dedicated to the Saint patron of Paris on the site of the crumbling
medieval abbey on top of the Montagne Ste
Geneviève.
1758 – Work
begins on the foundations.
1764 – Louis
XV lays first stone in front of a great painted canvas of the future temple
portico.
1770 – Rumors
spread in Paris about the possible collapse of Soufflot’s dome supported by
light arches and slender columns. Construction slows down due to financial
problems.
1780 – Death
of Soufflot. He is replaced by his assistants Jean-Baptiste Rondelet and
Maximilien Brébion.
1790 – The
church is finally finished.
1791 – The
revolutionary National Assembly, following the proposal of the deputy Emmanuel
Pastoret, decides to transform the newly finished church into a mausoleum for
great Frenchmen (in imitation of the British tradition at Westminster abbey).
1791-93 – The
building is transformed into a “Pantheon” by architect Quatremère de Quincy.
1806 – Under
Napoleon the crypt is used for the burial of dignitaries and officers and the
ground floor for religious services.
1816 – Under
the Bourbon Restoration the building is turned back into a fully functioning
catholic church, all non-religious elements are removed.
1821 – The
tombs of Voltaire and Rousseau are moved and hidden from public view.
1830 – Under
the July monarchy of Louis Philippe the church becomes again a Pantheon. David
d’Angers sculpts the new pediment dedicated to “Great Men from a Grateful
Nation” (“aux grands homes, la patrie reconnaissante”.
1851 – Under
the Second empire of Napoleon III the building is turned again into a church,
masses are held in it from 1852.
1885 – Under
the Third Republic, after Victor Hugo’s funeral and burial, the building turns
again into a Pantheon and all religious ceremonies cease.
Faculté de Droit
(Law School)
1771-1793 by Jean Germain Soufflot (1713-1780)
Odéon Theater
1767 – Marquis
de Marigny, superintendent of the King’s Buildings commissions Marie-Joseph
Peyre (1730-85) and Chales de Wailly (1730-98) to present a project for a new
theater for the royal troupe, the Comédie Française.
1770 – The site of the garden of the
residence of the Prince de Condé is chosen for the new theater (the Prince
wants to move to the Palais Bourbon).
1778 – Peyre
and Wailly’s project is retained despite vivid competition from other
architects. The two architects are favored by the King’s brother, Monsieur, and
the new Superintendent of the Buildings the count d’Angivilliers. The site is
moved closer to Monsieur’s residence, the Palais de Luxembourg.
1779 –
Building begins. The theater is designed to be the focal point of a new
neighborhood with three straight new streets leading to a piazza laid out in
front of the building.
1782 –
Inauguration of the theater.
1784 –
Première of Beaumarchais’ “Marriage of Figaro” attended by Queen Marie
Antoinette.
1789 – Under
the Revolution the theater is renamed “Théâtre de la Nation”.
1791 – Rift
between actors loyal to the King and their revolutionary colleagues over the
production of the radical playwright’s André Chenier’s “Charles XI”. The
royalists led by the tragedian Talma leave and found a new theater at the
Palais Royal.
1794 – Renamed
Théâtre de l’Egalité.
1796 – Final
renaming by the new director poupart de Dorgeuille as an “Odéon” in the spirit
of antiquity fashionable at the time.
1799 –
Original theater burns down. The remaining actors leave for the Palais Royal.
1808-18 –
Rebuilding of theater by Chalgrin.
1818 – Second
fire.
1819 – Second
rebuilding by Baraguay.
Ecole de Chirurgie (School of Surgery)
1769 – Jacques
Gondoin (1737-1818) is given the commission to build a new school for surgery
in Paris by recommendation of the royal surgeon Germain Pichault de la Martinière.
1774 – Louis
XVI lays first stone of temple portico in courtyard.
1786 – The
building is completed.
1878-1900 –
Additions on either side and behind the original building to boulevard St
Germain by Léon Ginain.
