Today, I’m taking a wander around the Pantheon, one of the most famous and well-preserved ancient monuments here in the Eternal City.
For much of the year you’ll see hoards of people queuing to enter but January is a little less crowded, which gives the visitor more time and headspace to enjoy the interior.
A little history.
Initially built as a Pagan temple (‘in Greek, the word means ‘honour all Gods’), the Panthteon was originally commissioned by Marcus Agrippa between 27 BCE and 14 CE.
However, the structure as we know it today was completed by Emperor Hadrian.
What many don’t know is that it’s actually the third version of the building - yes, the first two burned down! Something else quite astonishing is that the Pantheon remained standing throughout the Barbarian invasions. Only in 609 CE it was transformed into a church - St. Mary of the Martyrs.
Renown both for its astonishing architecture and remarkable engineering, it is by far and away the best preserved of all ancient Roman buildings.
The structure itself comprises of 16 enormous columns (Corinthian) which support the Portico. Almost 12 metres high, they were transported from Egypt, at great expense. Note the inscription atop the entrance… “M·AGRIPPA·L·F·COS·TERTIVM·FECIT” - Marcus Agrippa son of Lucius (having been Consul three times made it) but it was left by Hadrian as a gesture to his predecessor.
Inside, the design of the building takes your breath away. The intersecting arches rest on eight piers and the rotunda is a perfect hemisphere, measuring close to 43 metres in diameter (which is exactly the maximum height of its dome). Designed in such a way that a perfect sphere could sit inside it, it estimated to have taken 4-5 years to build the walls and about the same time again to construct the Dome
Ah, yes...the Dome. Lined with bronze and a diameter of almost 8 metres, it is actually larger than its counterpart at St. Peter’s Basilica.
Look up and gaze in wonder at it and the ‘eye’ in its centre - the Occulus.
This is the only means by which light can pour down into the building - there are no windows inside the Pantheon.
During the day, as light floods in it moves around the inside of the building, giving a ‘reverse sundial’ effect.
But what happens in the winter, you might ask, when rain falls? Well, because the floor was designed in slanted style (a convex design) the water drains away. A remarkable feat of engineering.
Fun fact: the structure of the building as we know it today was designed by architect Apollodorus of Damascus - whom Emperor Hadrian later had executed after an argument about the final plans! That’s arbitrary power for you…
To date, the Pantheon still boasts the world’s largest non-reinforced concrete dome. It’s also the final resting place of the extraordinary Renaissance painter, Raphael.
It is free to enter (although, as I’ve mentioned, there are often queues) and is a building that can be returned to again and again, because of both its sheer beauty and ingenious design.
I’ll close this post with a quote by Michelangelo who, when asked to describe the Pantheon, said it was “angelic and not human design.”
He could not have put it better.
The Pantheon; Piazza della Rotunda (five minutes walk from Piazza Navona) Centro Storico di Roma