Charming Rome Rome Travel Tips

The Pantheon – Rome Travel Tips

The Pantheon is a religious building located in the heart of Rome, between Piazza Navona and Trevi Fountain.

It is one of the best-preserved ancient monuments in Rome.

First, it was built as a temple to all the Gods in 25-26 a.C, on commission by Marcus Agrippa. Then, following a huge fire in which the original structure was destroyed, Emperor Hadrian ordered the rebuilding of the Pantheon in 80 AD.
In 609 Pope Boniface IV converted the temple into a Christian church, this way preserving it from spoliation and destruction, and called it Sancta Maria ad Martyres. Many centuries later, during the Renaissance, the structure began to be used as a tomb: among the buried are Italian painter Raphael and two Italian kings: Vittorio Emanuele II and Umberto I.

The Pantheon has a circular base, with a porch supported by three rows of Corinthian columns that dominates the facade. The concrete dome has a central opening called oculus, most famous for its resemblance to the heavens, and that gives a suggestive view to the sky.

Finally, a curiosity: “Rotonna” (Rotonda in Italian) is a playful nickname that Romans has given to the Pantheon.