The National Pantheon was built from 1714-1746 by the Spaniard Geronimo Quezada y Garçon and was originally a Jesuit church. The structure was constructed in the neoclassic

Neoclassical architecture

Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...

-renaissance

Renaissance architecture

Renaissance architecture is the architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 17th centuries in different regions of Europe, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of ancient Greek and Roman thought and material culture. Stylistically, Renaissance...

 style. Today the structure stands as a national symbol of the Dominican Republic

Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...

 and serves as the final resting place of the Republic's most honored citizens.

History

Jesuits held mass here from 1746-1767. After 1767 it was used as a tobacco warehouse and then as a theater. The theater was the venue for the pro-independence organization La Trinitaria

La Trinitaria

La Trinitaria is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 59,686. It covers an area of 1840.7 km²....

, which staged shows under aliases such as La Filantrópica and La Dramática. From its stages, the ideas were set in motion for a free and sovereign republic by national heroes like Juan Pablo Duarte

Juan Pablo Duarte

Juan Pablo Duarte y Díez is one of the Founding Fathers of the Dominican Republic. He was a visionary and liberal thinker who along with Francisco del Rosario Sánchez and Matías Ramón Mella is widely considered the architect of the Dominican Republic and its independence from Haitian rule in 1844...

, Ramon Matias Mella

Ramón Matías Mella

Matías Ramón Mella, born 25 February 1816, is regarded as a national hero in the Dominican Republic. The Order of Merit of Duarte, Sanchez and Mella is partially named in his honor....

, and Francisco del Rosario Sanchez

Francisco del Rosario Sánchez

Francisco Del Rosario Sánchez was a politician and founding father of the Dominican Republic. He is considered by Dominicans as the second leader of the 1844 Dominican War of Independence, after Juan Pablo Duarte and before Ramón Matías Mella. The Order of Merit of Duarte, Sanchez and Mella is...

, among others.

In 1956, Spanish architect Javier Borroso renovated the structure to serve its new purpose as a national mausoleum, by order of then dictator Rafael Trujillo. Originally, Trujillo envisioned being interred at the National Pantheon, yet ironically today it is the place were
the country's most famous persons are honored, among others Trujillo's assassins.

Other notables that are buried at the National Pantheon include; Francisco Gregorio Billini

Francisco Gregorio Billini

Francisco Gregorio Billini was a Dominican writer, pedagogue, and politician. He served as president of the Dominican Republic in name from September 1, 1884 until May 16, 1885. In fact, dictator Ulises Heureaux exercised real power behind the scenes.-Reference:* at the Enciclopedia Virtual...

, Gregorio Luperón

Gregorio Luperón

Gregorio Luperón , is best known for being a Dominican military and state leader who was the main leader in the restoration of the Dominican Republic after the Spanish annexation in 1863....

, and Eugenio Hostos.