Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève

The Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève is defined by the hundreds of names of famous authors carved directly into its stone facade. Located at ten, Place du Panthéon, this long, rectangular building was designed by architect Henri Labrouste and opened in eighteen fifty-one. It holds a collection rooted in a sixth-century abbey, yet its structure signaled a radical shift in nineteenth-century architecture.