The Pantheon

The Pantheon is the best-preserved building of ancient Rome, a temple to all the gods raised nearly two thousand years ago and crowned by a coffered concrete dome that remains the largest unreinforced dome in the world. At its centre the oculus, a great round opening, lets in a shaft of light and rain, and the perfect proportions of the vast domed space still astonish.

Background

The name comes from the Greek for a temple of all the gods. Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa commissioned the first temple here under Augustus, within a complex on his own land in the Campus Martius that also held the Baths of Agrippa and the Basilica of Neptune. It burned in 80 AD, was rebuilt by Domitian and burned again in 110 AD. Hadrian finished the present building, probably dedicated in AD 126, and its date is uncertain because he repeated Agrippa's original inscription on it. The portico rests on large granite Corinthian columns, with eight at the front and two groups of four behind. The height to the oculus equals the interior diameter, 43 metres.

Source: Wikipedia, "Pantheon, Rome"

What you'll find

• The dome and oculus - the great coffered dome and the open eye at its centre.
• The shaft of light - the beam of sun that moves across the interior through the oculus.
• The interior - the perfectly proportioned vast round space.
• The tombs - the resting place of kings and of the painter Raphael.

When to go

Year-round; a fully central sight, quick to see. Midday sun sends the light beam straight down through the oculus. It now charges a small entry fee.

Good to know

It is small and quickly seen, an interior more than a long visit, and now charges entry. It is a working church, so it may close for services. The square outside is busy with cafes and crowds.

Nearby

Piazza Navona and the Trevi Fountain are a short walk in central Rome.

Key facts