Panthéon

King Louis the Fifteenth commissioned the Panthéon after he fell dangerously ill during a military campaign. He vowed to Saint Genevieve, the patron saint of Paris, that he would replace the city's dilapidated abbey church with a magnificent new basilica if she saved his life. He recovered, and to fulfill his promise, he funded the massive project through public lotteries. Construction began in seventeen sixty-four with the King himself laying the first stone.