Welcome to the heart of the Latin Quarter, where the spirit of French history towers above you. You are standing before the Pantheon, a monument that serves as both a masterpiece of architecture and a secular temple dedicated to the greatest minds of France. As you look around this historic square, notice how the monument anchors the neighborhood, sitting just a short stroll from the prestigious Sorbonne University and the historic Rue Saint-Jacques. This structure was originally built to be a church, but the winds of the French Revolution changed its destiny forever. Today, it stands as a symbol of the nation's gratitude to those who have shaped its identity through science, literature, and philosophy.[3] Take a moment to appreciate the grand Corinthian columns before you, which look almost exactly like the ones you would find in ancient Rome, connecting eighteenth-century Paris to the glory of antiquity.