Ashes, skulls and body parts: What's really inside the Paris Pantheon?
It's the final resting place for France's most distinguished citizens, from scientists and philosophers to pilots and poets - but are people actually buried inside the Paris landmark?
Being inducted into the Panthéon in Paris is the highest posthumous honour that France has to give - entry is at the gift of the head of state and is restricted to people who have made an exceptional contribution to France.
The great men (and significantly fewer women) given this honour are an eclectic bunch - politicians, philosophers, poets, scientists, resistance fighters, dancers and the leader of a slave rebellion to name just a few.
Hear the team at The Local talk about the Panthéon and its latest inductee - Missak Minouchian - on the latest episode of the Talking France podcast. Download here or listen on the link below
In French the process is known as being 'panthéoniser', which in English is usually translated as being 'inducted' into the Panthéon. But does this mean people are actually buried there?
Well, it depends . . .
Bodies
Some people are buried there, and that's usually the people who were inducted first. When the Panthéon first opened in 1791 as the secular monument to France's greatest citizens, people were often given the honour straight after they had died, meaning that they could be buried directly in the monument.
This was the case for Polish-born scientist Marie Curie - discoverer of radium. Her body is inside the Panthéon - the coffin wrapped in several sheets of lead to protect visitors from the radiation that is believed to still be in her body.
READ ALSO 5 things to know about the Panthéon in Paris
There are also a couple of people buried there as a 'plus one' - for example Sophie Berthelot is the wife of the celebrated chemist Marcellin Berthelot. She died just a couple of hours before him and he had frequently stated that he wished to be buried next to her, so both of them rest in the Panthéon.
Sophie was the first woman in the Panthéon, but she's not generally counted because she is not there on her own merits - the first woman formally inducted into the Panthéon was Marie Curie (she of the lead-lined coffin).
For those who were inducted some years after their death, things were a little more complicated and involved their bodies being exhumed from their original graves and reburied. Or at least, a body . . . the great philosophers Rousseau and Voltaire are both there, but when their bodies were exhumed years after their deaths, it seems that precise graveyard records had been lost.
A 'few bones' were dug up and sent to the Panthéon, but no-one really knows whose bones they are.
Ashes/soil
Not unnaturally, some relatives are not keen on the idea of disturbing the rest of their loved ones, so when the invitation to be panthéoniser comes, they opt for something more symbolic.
If the person was cremated, they might send some of their ashes to the Panthéon, or simply some soil from their grave plots. This is the case for the two resistance fighters Geneviève De Gaulle-Anthioz and Germain Tillon, both inducted in 2015.
It's also what happened for American-born dancer and civil rights campaigner Josephine Baker - inducted in 2022. Therefore the answer to the pub quiz question 'where is Josephine Baker buried' is not the Panthéon, but Monaco, where she was living at the time of her death.
Unknown graves
There are several people in the Panthéon for whom none of these options are available as they have no known graves.
This is the case for Toussaint Louverture, leader of the Haiti slave rebellion and fight for independence in the 1790s. He died in prison in France in 1803 and was buried in an unmarked grave. When he was inducted into the Panthéon in 1998, he simply got a plaque.
Likewise the World War II resistance fighter Jean Moulin - deported to a concentration camp and died on route - and the pilot and author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry - author of The Little Prince - who disappeared while flying during World War II.
In Moulin's case, ashes were provided by his sister - they belong to a Frenchman who died on a transport to a Nazi concentration camp and was cremated, but no-one really knows whose ashes they are.
Partial bodies
There was also a - thankfully brief - phase of dismembering bodies and diving them between the Panthéon and their local cemetery.
Politician Léon Gambetta had his heart removed and placed in an urn, which is in the Panthéon, while the rest of his body is buried in Nice.
Perhaps the weirdest example of all is Louis Braille - inventor of the braille writing system for blind people. His body is in the Panthéon - minus his hands. His hands, which he as a blind man used to read using his new system, were removed and buried in his family plot in Coupray, just outside Paris.
Visits
Each inductee has a stone caveau (tomb) with their name on it, so when visiting, you won't be able to tell who is actually buried there and who isn't.
The Panthéon, in the central 5th arrondissement of Paris, is open to visitors 7 days a week. It costs €11.50, and is free for children. It’s not essential to book in advance but it is a good idea if you’re visiting during busy periods, especially if you want to climb to the top of the monument.
This involves climbing 203 steps, but the view from the top is spectacular.
Comments
See Also
Being inducted into the Panthéon in Paris is the highest posthumous honour that France has to give - entry is at the gift of the head of state and is restricted to people who have made an exceptional contribution to France.
The great men (and significantly fewer women) given this honour are an eclectic bunch - politicians, philosophers, poets, scientists, resistance fighters, dancers and the leader of a slave rebellion to name just a few.
Hear the team at The Local talk about the Panthéon and its latest inductee - Missak Minouchian - on the latest episode of the Talking France podcast. Download here or listen on the link below
In French the process is known as being 'panthéoniser', which in English is usually translated as being 'inducted' into the Panthéon. But does this mean people are actually buried there?
Well, it depends . . .
Bodies
Some people are buried there, and that's usually the people who were inducted first. When the Panthéon first opened in 1791 as the secular monument to France's greatest citizens, people were often given the honour straight after they had died, meaning that they could be buried directly in the monument.
This was the case for Polish-born scientist Marie Curie - discoverer of radium. Her body is inside the Panthéon - the coffin wrapped in several sheets of lead to protect visitors from the radiation that is believed to still be in her body.
READ ALSO 5 things to know about the Panthéon in Paris
There are also a couple of people buried there as a 'plus one' - for example Sophie Berthelot is the wife of the celebrated chemist Marcellin Berthelot. She died just a couple of hours before him and he had frequently stated that he wished to be buried next to her, so both of them rest in the Panthéon.
Sophie was the first woman in the Panthéon, but she's not generally counted because she is not there on her own merits - the first woman formally inducted into the Panthéon was Marie Curie (she of the lead-lined coffin).
For those who were inducted some years after their death, things were a little more complicated and involved their bodies being exhumed from their original graves and reburied. Or at least, a body . . . the great philosophers Rousseau and Voltaire are both there, but when their bodies were exhumed years after their deaths, it seems that precise graveyard records had been lost.
A 'few bones' were dug up and sent to the Panthéon, but no-one really knows whose bones they are.
Ashes/soil
Not unnaturally, some relatives are not keen on the idea of disturbing the rest of their loved ones, so when the invitation to be panthéoniser comes, they opt for something more symbolic.
If the person was cremated, they might send some of their ashes to the Panthéon, or simply some soil from their grave plots. This is the case for the two resistance fighters Geneviève De Gaulle-Anthioz and Germain Tillon, both inducted in 2015.
It's also what happened for American-born dancer and civil rights campaigner Josephine Baker - inducted in 2022. Therefore the answer to the pub quiz question 'where is Josephine Baker buried' is not the Panthéon, but Monaco, where she was living at the time of her death.
Unknown graves
There are several people in the Panthéon for whom none of these options are available as they have no known graves.
This is the case for Toussaint Louverture, leader of the Haiti slave rebellion and fight for independence in the 1790s. He died in prison in France in 1803 and was buried in an unmarked grave. When he was inducted into the Panthéon in 1998, he simply got a plaque.
Likewise the World War II resistance fighter Jean Moulin - deported to a concentration camp and died on route - and the pilot and author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry - author of The Little Prince - who disappeared while flying during World War II.
In Moulin's case, ashes were provided by his sister - they belong to a Frenchman who died on a transport to a Nazi concentration camp and was cremated, but no-one really knows whose ashes they are.
Partial bodies
There was also a - thankfully brief - phase of dismembering bodies and diving them between the Panthéon and their local cemetery.
Politician Léon Gambetta had his heart removed and placed in an urn, which is in the Panthéon, while the rest of his body is buried in Nice.
Perhaps the weirdest example of all is Louis Braille - inventor of the braille writing system for blind people. His body is in the Panthéon - minus his hands. His hands, which he as a blind man used to read using his new system, were removed and buried in his family plot in Coupray, just outside Paris.
Visits
Each inductee has a stone caveau (tomb) with their name on it, so when visiting, you won't be able to tell who is actually buried there and who isn't.
The Panthéon, in the central 5th arrondissement of Paris, is open to visitors 7 days a week. It costs €11.50, and is free for children. It’s not essential to book in advance but it is a good idea if you’re visiting during busy periods, especially if you want to climb to the top of the monument.
This involves climbing 203 steps, but the view from the top is spectacular.
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.