Pantheon in Rome – Free Full Guide

In this free full guide, you will learn about the Pantheon in Rome (Roman Pantheon), located in the center of Rome, Italy. Join us on an unforgettable journey through the history, architecture, and secrets of this inspiring monument.

Roman Pantheon – Free Full Guide

The Pantheon (from Greek – “temple of all the gods”) is a former Roman temple and, since 609 AD, a Catholic church (Basilica of Saint Mary and the Martyrs) in Rome, Italy.
It is one of the best-preserved of all Ancient Roman buildings, in large part because it has been in continuous use throughout its history: since the 7th century, it has been a church dedicated to Saint Mary and the Martyrs but informally known as “Santa Maria Rotonda”.
The square in front of the Pantheon is called Piazza della Rotonda. The Pantheon is a state property, managed by Italy’s Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism through the Polo Museale del Lazio. In 2013, it was visited by over 6 million people.
The building is cylindrical with a portico of large granite Corinthian columns (eight in the first rank and two groups of four behind) under a pediment. A rectangular vestibule links the porch to the rotunda, which is under a coffered concrete dome, with a central opening (oculus) to the sky. Almost two thousand years after it was built, the Pantheon’s dome is still the world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome. The height of the oculus and the diameter of the interior circle are the same, 43 meters (142 feet).
The Pantheon’s large circular domed cella, with a conventional temple portico front, was unique in Roman architecture. Nevertheless, it became a standard exemplar when classical styles were revived, and has been copied many times by later architects.

The name “Pantheon” is from the Ancient Greek “Pantheion” meaning “relating to all the gods”. Cassius Dio, a Roman senator who wrote in Greek, speculated that the name comes either from the statues of many gods placed around this building or from the resemblance of the dome to the heavens. His uncertainty strongly suggests that “Pantheon” (or Pantheum) was merely a nickname, not the formal name of the building.
The concept of a pantheon dedicated to all the gods is questionable. But as of today, it is agreed that when one says “the Pantheon” it means the Pantheon in Rome.
Since the French Revolution, when the church of Sainte-Geneviève in Paris was deconsecrated and turned into the secular monument called the Panthéon of Paris, the generic term pantheon has sometimes been applied to other buildings in which illustrious dead are honored or buried.
The history of this place is incredible and intriguing.
It all began in the aftermath of the naval Battle of Actium (31 BC). When Octavian’s army led by Marcus Agrippa defeated the combined fleets of both Mark Antony and Cleopatra the 7th.
Marcus Agrippa started an impressive building program: the Pantheon was a part of the complex created by him on his own property in the Campus Martius in 29–19 BC, which included three buildings aligned from south to north: the Baths of Agrippa, the Basilica of Neptune, and the Pantheon.
It seems likely that the Pantheon was a private place, not a public temple. The former would help explain how the building could have so easily lost its original name and purpose in such a relatively short period.
The Latin inscription on the front of the temple reads:
“Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, made this when consul for the third time.”
Archaeological excavations have shown that the Pantheon of Agrippa had been completely ruined except for the façade. The present construction began in 114 AD, under Trajan, four years after it was destroyed by fire for the second time. Based on stylistic evidence, Apollodorus of Damascus, Trajan’s architect, was the obvious new architect.
After 80 AD the emperor Domitian (known for his enthusiasm for building) restored the Pantheon in Rome. Later the architects of the emperor Trajan partially rebuilt it. But unfortunately, it was burnt again in 110 AD.
The Pantheon was recreated and beautifully decorated by architects of the emperor Hadrian. The main works were finished in 125 AD and the building looked close to what we have now.
In 202, the building was repaired by the joint emperors Septimius Severus and his son Caracalla, for which there is another, smaller inscription on the architrave of the façade, under the aforementioned larger text.

During the medieval, In 609, the Byzantine emperor Phocas gave the building to Pope Boniface the 4th, who converted it into a Christian church and consecrated it to Saint Mary and the Martyrs.
28 cartloads of holy relics of martyrs were said to have been removed from the catacombs and placed in a porphyry basin beneath the high altar. On its consecration, Boniface placed an icon of the Mother of God within the new sanctuary.
The building’s consecration as a church saved it from the abandonment, destruction, and the worst of the spoliation that befell the majority of ancient Rome’s buildings during the early medieval period. However, historians record the spoliation of the building by Emperor Constans the 2nd, who visited Rome in July 663. He took away from there the bronze tiles and sent them with all the other ornaments to Constantinople. Much fine external marble has been removed over the centuries – for example, capitals from some of the pilasters are in the British Museum. Two columns were swallowed up in the medieval buildings that abutted the Pantheon on the east and were lost.
In the early 17th century, Urban 8th Barberini tore away some of the bronze ceilings of the portico, and replaced the medieval campanile with the famous twin towers called “the ass’s ears”, which were not removed until the late 19th century. The only other loss has been the external sculptures, which adorned the pediment above Agrippa’s inscription. The marble interior has largely survived, although with extensive restoration.
Since the Renaissance, the Pantheon has been the site of several important burials. Among those buried, there are the painters Raphael and Annibale Carracci, the composer Arcangelo Corelli, and the architect Baldassare Peruzzi. In the 15th century, the Pantheon was adorned with paintings: the best-known is the Annunciation by Melozzo da Forlì. Filippo Brunelleschi, among other architects, looked to the Pantheon as inspiration for their works.
Pope Urban 8th ordered the bronze ceiling of the Pantheon’s portico to melt down. Most of the bronze was used to make bombards for the fortification of Castel Saint Angelo, with the rest used by the Apostolic Camera for other works. It is also said that some of the bronze was used by Bernini in creating his famous baldachin above the high altar of Saint Peter’s Basilica.
In 1747, the broad frieze below the dome with its false windows was “restored”, but bore little resemblance to the original. In the early decades of the 20th century, a piece of the original, as far as could be reconstructed from Renaissance drawings and paintings, was recreated in one of the panels.
Two kings of Italy are buried in the Pantheon: Vittorio Emanuele the 2nd and Umberto the 1st, as well as Umberto’s Queen, Margherita. The National Institute for the Honour Guard of the Royal Tombs of the Pantheon, which mounts guards of honor at the royal tombs of the Pantheon, was originally chartered by the House of Savoy and subsequently operates with authorization of the Italian Republic, mounts as guards of honor in front of the royal tombs.
Nowadays, the Pantheon is in use as a Catholic church, and as such, visitors are asked to keep an appropriate level of deference. Masses are celebrated there on Sundays and holy days of obligation. Weddings are also held there from time to time.

Now, let’s talk about the structure of the Pantheon. It consists of 2 main parts: Portico (the entrance with collonade) and Rotunda (the building and the dome itself).
The Portico was originally approached by a flight of steps. Later construction raised the level of the ground leading to the portico, eliminating these steps.
The pediment was decorated with relief sculpture, probably of gilded bronze. Holes marking the location of clamps that held the sculpture suggest that its design was likely an eagle within a wreath; ribbons extended from the wreath into the corners of the pediment.
On the intermediate block between the portico and the rotunda, the remains of a second pediment suggest that the existing portico is much shorter than originally intended. A portico aligned with the second pediment would fit columns with shafts 50 Roman feet tall (15 meters) and capitals 10 Roman feet tall (3 meters), whereas the existing portico has shafts 40 Roman feet tall (12 meters) and capitals 8 Roman feet tall (2 and a half meters).
The grey granite columns that were used in the Pantheon’s pronaos were quarried in Egypt at Mons Claudianus in the eastern mountains. Each was 12 meters (39 feet) tall, 1 and a half meters (4 feet 11 inches) in diameter, and 60 tonnes in weight.
In the walls at the back of the Pantheon’s portico are two huge niches, perhaps intended for statues of Augustus Caesar and Agrippa.
The large bronze doors to the cella, measuring 4 and a half meters wide (14.6 feet) by 7 and a half meters high (24.7 feet), are the oldest in Rome. Analysis of the fusion technique confirmed that these are the original Roman doors, a rare example of Roman monumental bronze surviving, despite cleaning and the application of Christian motifs over the centuries.
Rotunda. The 4-and-a-half thousand-tonne weight of the Roman concrete dome is concentrated on a ring of voussoirs 9 meters (30 feet) in diameter that form the oculus, while the downward thrust of the dome is carried by eight barrel vaults in the 6.4-meter-thick (21 feet) drum wall into eight piers. The thickness of the dome varies from 6.4 meters (21 feet) at the base of the dome to 1.2 meters (3.9 feet) around the oculus. The materials used in the concrete of the dome also vary. At its thickest point, the aggregate is travertine, then terracotta tiles, then at the very top, tufa and pumice, both porous light stones. At the very top, where the dome would be at its weakest and vulnerable to collapse, the oculus lightens the load.
The stresses in the dome were found to be substantially reduced by the use of successively less dense aggregate stones, such as small pots or pieces of pumice, in higher layers of the dome. If normal-weight concrete had been used throughout, the stresses in the arch would have been some 80% greater. Hidden chambers engineered within the rotunda form a sophisticated structural system. This reduced the weight of the roof, as did the oculus eliminating the apex.
The top of the rotunda wall features a series of brick relieving arches, visible on the outside and built into the mass of the brickwork. The Pantheon is full of such devices – for example, there are relieving arches over the recesses inside – but all these arches were hidden by marble facing on the interior and possibly by stone revetment or stucco on the exterior.
The height of the oculus and the diameter of the interior circle are the same, 43.3 meters (142 feet), so the whole interior would fit exactly within a cube (or, a 43.3-m sphere). The Pantheon still holds the record for the world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome. It is also substantially larger than earlier domes. It is the only masonry dome to not require reinforcement. All other extant ancient domes were either designed with tie-rods, chains, and banding or have been retrofitted with such devices to prevent collapse.

Now, let’s talk about the interior of the Pantheon.
Upon entry, visitors are greeted by an enormous rounded room covered by the dome. The oculus at the top of the dome was never covered, allowing rainfall through the ceiling and onto the floor. Because of this, the interior floor is equipped with drains and has been built with an incline of about 30 centimeters (12 inches) to promote water runoff.
The interior of the dome was possibly intended to symbolize the arched vault of the heavens. The oculus at the dome’s apex and the entry door are the only natural sources of light in the interior. Throughout the day, light from the oculus moves around this space in a reverse sundial effect: marking time with light rather than shadow. The oculus also offers cooling and ventilation.
The dome features sunken panels (coffers), in five rings of 28. Circles and squares form the unifying theme of the interior design.
The present high altars and the apses were commissioned by Pope Clement 11th in the 18th century and designed by Alessandro Specchi. Enshrined on the apse above the high altar is a 7th-century Byzantine icon of the Virgin and Child. The choir was added in 1840 and was designed by Luigi Poletti.
The first niche to the right holds a Madonna of the Girdle and Saint Nicholas of Bari painted by an unknown artist. The first chapel on the right, the Chapel of the Annunciation. On the left side is a canvas by Clement Maioli of St Lawrence and St Agnes. On the right wall is the Incredulity of Saint Thomas (1633) by Pietro Bonzi.
The second niche has a 15th-century fresco of the Tuscan school, depicting the Coronation of the Virgin. In the second chapel is the tomb of King Victor Emmanuel II (died 1878).
The third niche has a sculpture of Saint Anne and the Blessed Virgin. In the third chapel is a painting of the Umbrian school. On the right wall is the canvas of Emperor Phocas presenting the Pantheon to Pope Boniface IV (1750) by an unknown. The final niche on the right side has a statue of St. Anastasius (Sant’Anastasio) (1725) by Bernardino Cametti.

On the first niche to the left of the entrance is an Assumption by Andrea Camassei. The first chapel on the left, the Chapel of Saint Joseph in the Holy Land.
The altar in the chapel is covered with false marble. On the altar is a statue of Saint Joseph and the Holy Child by Vincenzo de Rossi.
To the sides are paintings by Francesco Cozza. The stucco relief on the left, Dream of Saint Joseph, is by Paolo Benaglia, and the one on the right, Rest during the flight from Egypt, is by Carlo Monaldi. On the vault are several 17th-century canvases.
The second niche has a statue of Saint Agnes, by Vincenzo Felici. The bust on the left is a portrait of Baldassare Peruzzi, derived from a plaster portrait by Giovanni Duprè. The tomb of King Umberto I and his wife Margherita di Savoia is in the next chapel. The royal tombs are maintained by the National Institute of Honour Guards to the Royal Tombs.
The third niche holds the mortal remains – “Bones and ashes”, as the inscription on the sarcophagus says – of the great artist Raphael. His fiancée, Maria Bibbiena is buried to the right of his sarcophagus.
The present arrangement is from 1811, designed by Antonio Muñoz. The Bust of Raphael is by Giuseppe Fabris.
In the Chapel of the Crucifixion, the Roman brick wall is visible in the niches. The wooden crucifix on the altar is from the 15th century. On the left wall is a Descent of the Holy Ghost (1790) by Pietro Labruzi. On the right side is the low relief Cardinal Consalvi presents to Pope Pius 7th.
The bust is a portrait of Cardinal Agostino Rivarola.
The final niche on this side has a statue of Saint Evasius by Francesco Moderati.
Useful Takeaways.

• The Pantheon is the best-preserved example of an Ancient Roman monumental building.
• Around 6 million tourists come to visit this place annually.
• One of the greatest artists – Raphael was buried here.
• It has been enormously influential in Western architecture from at least the Renaissance.
• The Pantheon still holds the record for the world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome.
• The history of the building begins in 29 BC with the Roman general Marcus Agrippa as a private temple.
• The Pantheon survived multiple fires and dangers.
• It came through several major reconstructions and rebuildings but still saved the sense of ancient Rome.