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Pantheon
The finest is that erected in Rome by Agrippa (son-in-law of
Augustus). It is circular, 150 feet in diameter, and the same in
height. It is now a church, with statues of heathen gods, and is called
the Rotunda. In Paris the Pantheon was the church of St. Geneviève,
built by Louis XV., finished 1790. Next year the Convention called it
the Pantheon, and set it apart as the shrine of those Frenchmen whom
their country wished to honour (“aux grands hommes la patrie
reconnaissante”). (Greek, pantes theory, all the gods.)
Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894 More on Pantheon from Infoplease:
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