My Travels

The Pantheon, rebuilt in 126 AD, is possibly the most intact Roman structure. It was originally a temple to all Roman gods but survived by becoming an early Christian church and remaining in continual use, deterring looting. No trip to Rome would be complete without a visit to the Pantheon.

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The Pantheon is a vast and impressive structure, but it is tightly squeezed in between more contemporary Roman buildings that you likely will not even know you are anywhere near it until you enter the piazza where it sits. The original Pantheon was built by Augustus, in 27BC. That building was destroyed in the terrible fire of 80AD. The emperor Hadrian rebuilt the building, including the inscription, on the frontal facade, dedicating it to Marcus Agrippa, a close friend of Augustus Caesar. In the 7th century Pope Boniface IV consecrated the building as the church, Santa Maria dei Martiri. The Pantheon has the largest unreinforced concrete dome, in the world. It was a marvel of engineering knowledge that was lost, for a long time. Michelangelo and Brunelleschi both studied the Pantheon to figure out how to build their own massive domes (St. Peters and the Duomo in Florence, respectively).

Besides students of Roman history, and architectural engineering, many come to visit the Pantheon because of its current inhabitants. The Pantheon is a tomb, and amongst the entombed is the renaissance artist Raphael.

The Pantheon requires no ticket and is so large that there is no wait. You may visit it anytime in the day without any planning. My recommendation is that you need to see the building in daylight and at night. During the day sunlight comes in through the oculus, at the top of the dome. At night the exterior is well lit, providing the best pictures of the exterior. The oculus is open. The architects were wise enough to build the floor at a slight grade, so that any rain that comes through the oculus will flow out the main entrance.

Surrounding the small piazza in front of the Pantheon, are several cafes and one or two gelato establishments. We visited first in the early afternoon, after a long walk around the city. Hungry and thirsty, we sat at an outside table at one of the cafes and had a bottle of prosecco and some bruschetta. To one side of us sat an elderly French couple and to the other side a young Spanish couple. We had a fun conversation, with everyone translating for everyone else. A young boy walked around playing an accordion. It was the type of afternoon from old romantic movies.

When we visited in the evening, it was the perfect time to stroll around with a cup or cone filled with at least three flavours of gelato.

Here is a live webcam overlooking the piazza in front of the Pantheon.