The domed chapel was built in the 17th century under Cardinal de Richelieu. Today, it dominates a paved Place that branches out from the eastern side of the Boulevard St. Michel. But don’t be fooled – the numerous discount stores selling funky clothes haven’t completely stripped the Sorbonne of its commanding air. It’s still a vital part of the area, a coed, secular institution whose students help to give the Latin Quarter its characteristic buzz and feeling of intellectual, collegiate life.

A little further to the east, after a tangle of streets filled with an eclectic mix of bars, restaurants, bookshops, music stores, and cafes, one comes to the top of the Montagne Sainte Geneviève. This high hill has been populated for millennia, and had a temple at its summit during Roman times. With the coming of Christianity, a church was built there, and soon dedicated to Geneviève, one of Paris’ major patron saints. The church that now sits on the summit’s eastern side, is known as Saint-Etienne du Mont. The charming, somewhat topsy-turvy-looking façade welcomes one into a gorgeous interior whose sculpted stairs and apse decorations are breathtaking to behold. It’s in this church that one finds the relics and remains of Saint Geneviève. Next door, to the left is the remaining tower of what was once a monastery built by Clovis, one of France’s first Frankish rulers, in 508. This site is now a high school, the Lycée Henri IV, and many famous Parisians have gotten their education here.

But undoubtedly the area’s most noticeable landmark is the celebrated Panthéon. Originally a church, the neoclassical building sits in the center of the hill’s summit, its high placement and large dome making it visible from many locations in the 5th Arrondissement, as well as other parts of the city. Since Victor Hugo’s funerals, the building has been used as a tomb for the great men of France. Besides Hugo, people such as Emile Zola and Voltaire rest here. Unfortunately, for now the Panthéon truly is mostly for “great men” – Marie Curie is the only woman interred here for because of her deeds (two Nobel prizes, one for Physics in 1903, another one for Chemistry in 1911). So be sure to bring your little girl. Who knows – the place might inspire her to become a hero of her own country. And in any case, she, like just about everyone, is bound to enjoy the many sites that make this quartier a mountain of history.