The PantheonRoman antiquity’s best surviving monument remains surprisingly intact after 2000 years. This is true despite the fact that Pope Gregory III removed the roof’s gilded bronze tiles and Pope Urban VIII had it stripped of its bronze covering and melted down to make the cannons for Castel Sant’Angelo and the canopy over the altar in St. Peter’s.
After a fire damaged the Pantheon in AD 80, it was rebuilt, and the masonry that resulted demonstrates the exceptionally high technical mastery of Roman builders. The building’s nine-meter central opening serves as the only light source and its 43-meter dome—the pinnacle of Roman interior architecture—hangs suspended without visible supports. These are well hidden inside the walls.
The interior’s proportions—the height is the same as the diameter—are what give it its aesthetically pleasing impact. Pope Boniface IV dedicated this pagan temple to the Virgin and all the Christian martyrs in 609 despite the fact that the first Christian emperors forbade using it for worship. Since then, Italian kings (Victor Emmanuel II is in the second niche on the right) and other notable Italians, such as the painter Raphael, have been buried there.
It might be congested in the summer because this is one of the city’s major tourist attractions. Plan your visit early in the morning to have a greater chance of seeing it without crowds.