Wonder why a cross stands here near the Panthéon? It marks a spot steeped in the history of Sainte-Geneviève. The Croix Sainte-Geneviève reminds us of the Abbey of Saint Genevieve. Originally, it was a church dedicated to her.
King Clovis I founded the Abbey of Saint Genevieve in 502. He and his queen Clotilde dedicated it to the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. The abbey rose on Mount Lucotitius. This was a high point on the Left Bank. The Roman town of Lutetia once had its forum there.
Clovis built a church there in 508. He and his wife were later buried there in 511 and 545. Saint Geneviève often came to pray there. She took a route now called rue de la Montagne-Sainte-Geneviève. After her death in 512 she was buried at the abbey church. Her tomb was near Clovis’s. The church then became dedicated to Saint Genevieve. She became the patron saint of Paris.
People kept her relics in the church. They brought them out for processions when the city faced danger. The Abbey of Saint Genevieve became a center for religious learning in the Middle Ages.
By the 9th century the basilica had become an abbey church. A large monastery grew around it. This included a scriptorium for creating and copying texts. The Sainte-Genevieve library existed as early as 831. It received three texts as a donation. These texts covered history literature and theology.
Vikings raided Paris three times during the 9th century. They sacked the abbey of Saint-Genevieve. Books were lost or stolen.
Around 1108 the abbey’s theology school joined with other schools. These were the School of Notre Dame Cathedral and the school of the Royal Palace. Together they formed the University of Paris. Peter Abelard taught at the abbey school from 1108 to 1113.
King Louis XV decided to rebuild the abbey church in 1744. The old church was in poor condition. Jacques-Germain Soufflot designed a grand new church over the crypt. This building is now the Panthéon.
The French Revolution changed the abbey’s fate. It was renamed the Panthéon. The revolutionaries secularized it. During the revolution the church suffered greatly. Architectural details were removed. Religious statues and friezes were destroyed in 1791. They were replaced with patriotic art. The relics of Saint Genevieve were burned. Salvaged relics were moved to Saint-Étienne-du-Mont.
The Croix Sainte-Geneviève marks the legacy. It reminds us of the devotion to Saint Genevieve. She was the savior and patron saint of Paris. It also marks the site of the once grand abbey.