Description

Essentials about the Pantheon in Rome in brief

Every visitor to Rome should have seen the Pantheon. It is not only the best preserved building of Roman antiquity, but also the largest domed structure of antiquity. The name Pantheon (from ancient Greek pan “all” and theos “god”) refers to the structure’s original function as a temple to all the gods. With its thick brick walls, large marble columns and grandiose dome, the Pantheon makes an overwhelming impression on almost every visitor. Thus, the famous Michelangelo is said to have spoken of a “disegno angelico e non umano,” a design made by angels, not men. And even Goethe wrote a few weeks after his arrival in Rome that the Pantheon had so taken over his mind “that I can see almost nothing beside it”.

The history of the Pantheon in Rome

The Pantheon is the successor of a temple that Consul Agrippa had built on the same site from 27 to 25 BC. This predecessor building was already laid out as a circular structure and had approximately the same dimensions and orientation as the building that can be seen today. It was damaged during a fire in 80 AD and restored under Emperor Domitian. In 110, the Pantheon burned down again as a result of a lightning strike. Research traditionally attributes the reconstruction to Emperor Hadrian and dates its construction to the years between 118 and 125, but recent research suggests construction began several years earlier, possibly under Hadrian’s predecessor Trajan. It is not clear who was the architect of this largest and most perfect circular building of antiquity.

Whether and for how long the Pantheon was used for cultic purposes afterwards cannot be precisely determined due to the lack of literary sources. As the promoter of Christianity in the Roman Empire, Emperor Constantine had all pagan places of worship closed in the 4th century, and by the beginning of the 5th century at the latest, under Emperor Honorius, temple use must have ceased for good. The Pantheon, then two hundred years old, suffered in the following period, like countless other sacred buildings, from looters who took everything that could be transported.

Pope Boniface IV saved the unused temple from imminent destruction. Emperor Phocas had given him the Pantheon in 608, and he transformed the formerly pagan building into a Christian sacred edifice dedicated to Mary and all the martyrs. To confirm the name, the pope had 26 wagonloads of bones from graves on the Appian Way transported to the Pantheon and declared them to be relics of Christian martyrs – not quite true, as we know today and probably suspected at the time.

In the course of the following centuries, the Pantheon was architecturally remodeled several times and, for example, a bell center was added. Finally, in the 15th and 16th centuries, the square in front of the Pantheon was cleared and leveled, creating what is now Piazza della Rotonda. Since the 16th century, the Pantheon became the burial place of important personalities, later also of the Italian royal family. Despite its many alterations, the Pantheon is one of the best preserved buildings of Roman antiquity, probably thanks to its rather early transformation into a church.

The Portico of the Pantheon in Rome

Piazza della Rotonda is dominated by the majestic portico of the Pantheon. The 16 large pillars, each 1.5 meters in diameter and weighing 60 tons, were hewn from the rock in Egypt and transported to Rome by ships. The pediment of the portico bears an inscription attributing the Pantheon to Marcus Agrippa, although it was built by Emperor Hadrian – probably a gesture of respect to this great man, whose memory was still held dear in Hadrian’s time. In ancient times, the pediment was decorated with sculptures made of gilded bronze. However, by order of Pope Urban VIII, these were removed in the 17th century to create the baldachin in St. Peter’s Basilica.

The dome of the Pantheon in Rome

The most remarkable part of the building is the huge dome with a diameter and height of more than 43 meters. Until the construction of the Florence Cathedral in 1436, it was the largest dome in the world. The biggest problem the Romans faced when building the Pantheon was the massive weight of the dome. In order to be able to support this weight without the reinforcements that are common today, the thickness of the walls decreases as the height increases. Walls six meters thick were built at the base, tapering to 2.3 meters at the top.

The Romans also used a lighter type of concrete mixed with volcanic tuff and pumice for the dome. To further reduce weight, the dome is divided by five concentric rings of 28 cassettes each and pierced at the apex by a circular opening nine meters in diameter called the opaion. Apart from the entrance portal, this opening is the only source of light in the interior.

The interior of the Pantheon in Rome

When one enters the rotunda, its spatial effect is overwhelming due to the unexpected width and height and the impressive light effect. The ecclesiastical interior design contrasts sharply with the external building construction as a temple. The marble floor, whose design features a series of geometric patterns, is still an original relic from Roman times. Today, the Pantheon houses the tombs of some famous personalities, such as the painter and builder Raphael, who was the first to find his final resting place here in 1520. Several Italian kings, such as the first two kings Victor Emmanuel II and Umberto I, are also buried in the Pantheon.

The architectural influence of the Pantheon in Rome

The Pantheon exerted a strong influence on architectural history from the early modern period. It became the prototype for countless famous domed buildings from the Renaissance to the 19th century, such as St. Peter’s Basilica, the Invalides Cathedral in Paris, the Altes Museum and Cathedral in Berlin, the Capitol in Washington D.C. and, of course, the namesake Panthéon in Paris.

Last but not least, it should be mentioned that unlike the other churches of Rome, which are owned by the respective religious communities – i.e. usually the Catholic Church – the Pantheon is the property of the Italian state.

Website

polomusealelazio.beniculturali.it

Opening hours

Admission fees

None.

Address

Getting there

By public transport:

Bus lines 30, 40, 46, 62, 64, 70, 81, 87, 130, 190F, 492, 628 und 916: Stop Argentina

Bus lines 40, 46, 62, 64, 70, 81, 87, 492, 628, 916, 916F and C3: Stop C.so Vittorio Emanuele/Argentina

Bus lines 30, 70, 81, 87, 492, 628, C3, n70, n201 and n913: Stop Rinascimento

By car:

The nearest parking garage is Parlamento Parking.