"Pantheon - temple to all the gods" Top 5 Page for this destination Pantheon Tip by brendareed

In Rome, the Pantheon, so great within and without, has overwhelmed me with admiration. Goethe, 1786

The Pantheon began in 27 BC as a temple to all the gods, later to become a secular monument, closed by the Christian emperors because it was a temple to other gods, only to return to church status and consecrated as a Christian church in AD 609. Pillaged by the Goths, then the Byzantines, it was later pillaged by the Catholic church – Pope Urban VIII took the bronze ceiling and had it melted down and turned into the baldacchino that is over the high altar in St. Peter’s Basilica and cannons for the Castel Sant’Angelo. Future popes made attempts to restore and upgrade the Pantheon.

The Pantheon is a perfectly proportioned building with the height and the diameter of the circular interior being the same measurement: 43.3 meters (142 feet). It is basically a sphere that sits inside a cylinder (think of it as a ball that perfectly fits into a can). At the top of the structure is a round opening to let in the natural light – the oculus – which also lets in the natural wet. On my visit to the Pantheon, I learned that the floor is sloped and there are drainage holes to allow the rain water to drain off the floor. It is a massive space once inside – there were many people there during my visit and yet it still seemed empty.

The method of constructing the dome of the Pantheon was lost when the Roman Empire fell, leaving architects to ponder how to create a similar dome – consider the plight of the Florentines who lived with a dome-less cathedral for more than 100 years until Brunelleschi visited Rome, studied the Pantheon, and returned to build the now famous double shelled dome on the Florence Cathedral.

The Pantheon’s interior is round with several recesses. It houses an altar and several tombs, including Vittorio Emanuele II, the first king of Italy, and the master painter Raphael, who requested to be buried in the Pantheon.

On the outside of the Pantheon, the portico is home to 16 huge Corinthian columns. Above the entrance to the portico are the following words: "M. AGRIPPA.L.F.COSTERTIUM.FECIT” which mean “Marcus Agrippa son of Lucius, having been consul three times made it”. Agrippa didn’t really make the Pantheon but rather the earlier structure in that spot; Hadrian, when rebuilding the Pantheon after the earlier one burned down, had the inscription put on the building in honor of Marcus Agrippa.

Horse-drawn carriages line up outside the Pantheon in hopes of picking up a tourist to take for a ride (for a fee). It is a crowded piazza – and typically where there are lots of tourists, there are scammers and pickpockets. So be careful as you enjoy the Pantheon.

The Pantheon rents an audio guide for visitors; however, Hubby and I both downloaded the free Rick Steves’ audio guide from iTunes before we left, which gave us a good overview of the Pantheon starting with the outside and the moving into the interior. While not always a fan of Rick Steves, I do recommend his audio tours for the sights in Rome.

Opening hours: Mon – Sat: 9 am - 6.30 pm and Sun: 9 am –1 pm.

Address: Piazza della Rotonda, Rome
Phone: +39 06 68300230
Website: http://www.sacred-destinations.com/italy/rome-pantheon