Pantheon

One of the best maintained buildings from Roman times is the Pantheon. The place was rebuilt after damage by fire in AD 80, and the resulting brickwork shows the extraordinarily high technical mastery of Roman builders. Although the first Christian emperors forbade using this pagan temple for worship, in 609 Pope Boniface IV dedicated it to the Virgin and all the Christian martyrs, and since then, Pantheon has become the burial place of Italian kings and other famous Italians, including the painter.

The harmonious effect of the interior is a result of its proportions: the height is the same as the diameter. Eight graceful granite Corinthian columns extend across the front of this circular building, with lesser columns in back. Though it is 2,000 years old, the Pantheon’s famous dome remains the world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome. In addition to being a source of light, this ‘oculus’ was a deliberate addition to Hadrian's design to let the visitors of the temple be in direct contact with the heavens.

In Pantheon, the total dome has a diameter of 44.4 metres and is the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world. The diameter is noteworthy as it is the same as the height from the floor to the oculus. At the edges, the dome is over seven metres thick, made of heavy types of rock. Near the oculus, the thickness of the dome is only 1.2 metres, made mostly of light pumice. During your city break in Rome, you can visit the Pantheon for free.

Location: Piazza della Rotonda, Rome, Italy
Website: https://www.pantheonroma.com/home-eng/
Tel: 39 06 6830 0230
Hour: 09:00 AM - 18:45 PM
Google Rating: 4.8/5