Pantheon

Pantheon is one of the oldest churches in the world is Pantheon in Rome. The Pantheon was initially constructed by Marcus Agrippa in 25 BC as a temple for the numerous Roman deities. The current Pantheon was built after Hadrian's reign, approximately 125 AD, when the ancient Pantheon, which still bears Agrippa's original inscription, was completely burned in the great fire of 80 AD.

The Pantheon, one of the most famous and magnificent structures of the ancient world, is open for free tours today; on Saturday evenings and Sunday mornings, it is closed for Mass. To truly immerse yourself in the history of the location, it is worthwhile to pay a modest fee to hire an audio guide. Since it has been a church dedicated to St. Mary and the Martyrs but is more often known as "Santa Maria Rotonda" since the 7th century, it is one of the best-preserved of all Ancient Roman structures. Piazza Della Rotonda is the name of the public space in front of the Pantheon. The Pantheon is a public building that is overseen by the Polo Museale del Lazio, a division of Italy's Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism. It received almost 6 million visitors in 2013.

Even now, entering the Pantheon still causes people to grasp: It is still the largest unreinforced concrete dome ever constructed, standing at 2,000 years old. The shaft of light that floods in to illuminate the tombs below seems almost supernatural in nature.

Location: Rome, Lazio, Italy