Panthéon

"In an unprecendented move, the assembly have decreed that Citizen Mirabeau will be given a state funeral, in the abbey church of St-Genevieve! Now to be known as the Pantheon, it will serve as the final resting place of the heroes of the revolution!"

- Le Patriote on the Pantheon, 1792.

The Pantheon (French: Panthéon) is a former church located in Paris, France. The building was originally dedicated to, but now primarily serves as a burial place for esteemed countrymen. The Pantheon stands 60 meters above the Seine, and is the high point of Paris' left bank.

History
In 1744, while suffering from a serious illness, King Louis XV swore to replace the ruined Abbey of St Genevieve with a new church if he survived. Following his recovery, construction on the building began in 1755 and ended around 1790.

In April 1791, the death of Mirabeau prompted a desire to honor exceptional French citizens that had served their country. Consequently, the Sainte-Geneviève church was transformed into the "Pantheon of great men", a secular mausoleum of sorts. Mirabeau's remains were placed there, but when his secret correspondence with King Louis XVI was later revealed to the populace, they turned against him.

In May 1794, Arno Dorian and a team of Assassins were tasked with the retrieval of Assassin relics from Mirabeau's crypt beneath the Pantheon, before the Templars and a mob of angry civilians could get to them. Once they acquired the artifacts, they escaped the building; Mirabeau's remains were subsequently removed from the Pantheon.

Over the years, the Pantheon changed hands several times, from church to state, eventually settling on the latter. Today the building houses the bodies of some of France's greatest heroes, including Voltaire, Marie Curie and Victor Hugo.

Reference

 * Assassin's Creed: Unity