The Pantheon Paris — Soufflot's Neoclassical Masterpiece
The dome, the columns, the engineering — Jacques-Germain Soufflot's 1758-1790 design that combined Greek and Gothic ambition.
The Pantheon was the most ambitious architectural project of 18th-century France — a building that combined the Greek temple front (with massive Corinthian columns) and the engineering of a Gothic vault to create a vast unbuttressed dome. Architect Jacques-Germain Soufflot worked on it from 1758 until his death in 1780; the building was completed posthumously by his colleagues in 1790. This guide is the architectural detail.
The Greek-temple front
The Pantheon's main facade is a Greek-style temple portico: 22 massive Corinthian columns, 19 metres tall, supporting a triangular pediment with carved relief. The model was the Pantheon in Rome (the building's namesake) and the Greek Parthenon, both of which Soufflot had studied during his time in Italy in the 1740s. The portico is the most photographed exterior feature; visitors typically walk between the columns to enter.
The portico does not lead directly into the main interior — it opens into a vestibule that then enters the nave through a smaller doorway. This was Soufflot's deliberate design choice to preserve the temple front as a pure architectural form, not compromised by interior layout. The decision is debated by architectural historians; some find it elegant, others find it impractical.
The dome — Gothic engineering meets Neoclassical form
The dome is the building's structural triumph. 83 metres tall (272 feet) to the top — taller than the Capitol in Washington DC and St Paul's in London. Diameter 21 metres at the base. The dome is supported by four massive piers, with Gothic-style flying buttresses concealed within the building's design (the buttresses are not visible from outside, deliberately, to preserve the clean Neoclassical exterior).
The engineering was contentious. Cracks appeared in the dome supports as early as 1776 during construction; Soufflot died in 1780 partly under the strain of defending his structural calculations. His student Jean-Baptiste Rondelet completed the building with additional reinforcement. The dome has stood for 230 years without further structural issues, vindicating the design retrospectively.
The interior — vast and clear
The interior is a Greek-cross plan (equal arms) under the central dome, with the four arms forming the main nave, transepts, and apse. The overall sense is of vast clear space under a single soaring dome — an effect Soufflot achieved by concealing all the structural buttressing within the walls and piers. The interior is unusually bright for an 18th-century church, with large clerestory windows above the columns.
Foucault's Pendulum hangs from the central dome (since 1851) and is visible from the entire interior. The painted ceiling decoration in the dome is 19th-century work — a depiction of the Apotheosis of Saint Genevieve (the original dedication of the building before it became the Pantheon). The painted decoration adds visual richness to what would otherwise be a starkly geometric space.
Frequently asked
Who designed the Pantheon Paris?
Jacques-Germain Soufflot (1713-1780) was the architect. He designed the building starting in 1758 and worked on it until his death in 1780; construction continued under his student Jean-Baptiste Rondelet and was completed in 1790.
How tall is the Pantheon Paris dome?
83 metres (272 feet) to the top of the dome — taller than the Capitol dome in Washington DC and St Paul's Cathedral in London. The dome diameter is 21 metres.
Was the Pantheon originally a church?
Yes — it was begun as the church of Sainte-Geneviève (Saint Genevieve, patron saint of Paris). King Louis XV vowed in 1744 to build the church if he recovered from illness; Soufflot was commissioned in 1755. The building was completed in 1790 just as the French Revolution was beginning; in 1791 it was secularised and dedicated as the Pantheon for great French citizens.
Why is it called the Pantheon?
After the Pantheon in Rome — a 1st-century AD temple to all gods, then converted to a church in 609 AD. The Paris building was named the Pantheon when it was secularised in 1791 to become France's national mausoleum, deliberately referencing the Roman building as a place of universal commemoration.
What style is the Pantheon Paris?
Neoclassical — a French style of the mid-to-late 18th century reviving Greek and Roman temple architecture. The Pantheon Paris combines a Greek temple front (with Corinthian columns) and a domed interior. Some architectural historians call it the most influential Neoclassical building in Europe.
Why are there cracks in the dome supports?
Cracks appeared in the dome supports during construction in 1776, while Soufflot was still alive. The cracks reflected the structural strain of supporting an unbuttressed dome of that scale. Soufflot's student Jean-Baptiste Rondelet completed the building with additional reinforcement after Soufflot's death in 1780. The dome has been stable since the 18th century.