Pantheon

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The Pantheon in Piazza della Rotonda is one of the best-preserved buildings of ancient Rome and has been used as a church since 609 AD.

History of the Pantheon

As early as 27 BC, a temple was built on the site of the Pantheon, but it was destroyed in a fire. After it was restored, it burned down again in 110 AD. Emperor Hadrian had the building completely rebuilt in 125 AD. The way it was built then, it still presents itself today.

The Pantheon has the largest unreinforced cement dome in the world, this is supposed to symbolize the sky while the opening represents the sun. The distance from the ground to the dome is as large as the diameter of the room, so that a huge sphere would fit here.

The dome of the Pantheon is more enormous than that of St. Peter's, which always caused annoyance among the ruling popes. They demanded that the dome of St. Peter's be larger than that of the Pantheon. However, the architects had to capitulate to this requirement and so the dome of St. Peter's is about 1.40 meters smaller in diameter than that of the Pantheon.

Some important personalities found their last resting place in the Pantheon, so also the artist Raphael. The tombs of former Italian kings are also located here.

The Pantheon is open to visitors daily between 8:30 am and 7:30 pm, and on Sundays between 9:00 am and 6:00 pm. Holy mass is held at the Pantheon on Saturdays at 17.00 and on Sundays at 10.30 and 16.30 (as of 09/2011).

Tip of the editors

The dome of the Pantheon is uniquely beautiful and a visit should be planned for every trip to Rome.