This majestic monument was formely the Eglise Sainte-Geneviève. It was transformed into a necropolis in 1791, to receive Mirabeau's ashes. Other famous men have been buried there since. The proud yet humble motto « Aux grands hommes, La Patrie Reconnaissante » (« To Her Great Men, from Grateful France ») is carved on the pediment.

The inside walls are decorated with a number of frescoes, the history of Sainte-Geneviève by Puvis de Chavannes being the most famous. On the left side of the Place du Panthéon are the law Faculty and the Sainte Geneviève Library.

The Latin Quartier is synonymous with the Boulevard Saint-Michel, which starts from the Place Saint-Michel and crosses the Boulevard Saint-Germain; the BOUL'MICH is the University causeway, and is invariably thronged by students belonging to the various Faculties around.

In the Rue des Ecoles stand the Université de Paris (the Sorbonne) and the College de France, built under Henri IV, where free public lectures are given since the days of Francois 1st The Ecole Polytechnique is in Rue Descartes; in Rue Monge stand the Arènes de Lutèce (the amphithéâtre), which date back to 50 B.C.