Pantheon & Piazza della Rotonda, Rome > Reviews (6)

The Pantheon in the historic centre of rome is a must on any itinerary for a visit to Rome.

It was originally built by the Emperor Adriano (Hadrian) as a temple to all the gods. The architecture is stunning. The entrance is through two massive bronze doors, each weighing many tons, that in its day were the largest doors ever made. Even though much of the embellishments have been lost they are still an object to be admired and amazed by.

Passing through those great doors one enters a huge circular Basilica. What makes the Pantheon so unique is it is almost perfectly preserved, (indeed it is the best preserved Roman building anywhere in the world). It owes this stroke of fortune to the fact that in the 6th Century, just as the papacy was asserting itsef, it was consecrated as a Christian Church thus saving it from the looting by successive papal architects that was the fate of other great works such as the Coliseum.

The perfectly circular walls rise up for over a hundred feet before meeting the dome. This dome was made of precast concrete and is a feat of technology that in size and perfection was not repeated for a further 1800 years. Omly in the 19th and 20th centuries have engineers managed the feats that Hadrians engineers managed in the first century BC. The dome is finished off with an orifice (Occulus), a perfectly round opening that allows light to fall inside illuminating the walls and floor.

Much of the marble embellishment has been lost but it takes little imagination to conjure up an impression of what a magnificent building this must of been when those huge bronze doors were first opened to allow public access.