Photos

the Pantheon is THE monument, in the way that it's so monumental. And it became a symbol of the Eternal city.

history :

at first there was a temple built under Agrippa in 27 B.C. (there are some remains on the back of the actual building.
But the Pantheon we knox was built in 125 A.C., under the Emperor Hadrian.
It was a temple dedicated to seven gods.
It was saved from the ruin by the Pope Boniface IV who made of it a christian church (under the nam of Basilica Santa Maria ad Martyres).

architecture :

the entrance gate is 35 m wide and has 16 columns of Corinthian style. Its roof was taken off by the Bernin for the castle Sant'Angelo and the San Pietro's canopy.
The dome of the Pantheon is 43,3 m high, the same dimension of its diameter. The vault is made by 5 rows of boxes.
The oculus in the centre of the dome is 9 m of diameter.It's the only source of light of the building... and the rain is also entering the monument by it because i's totally opened.

interior :

the 6 lateral niches received gods statues and are now chapels.
We can see the Raphael tomb, also tombs of some kings of Italy : Victor Emmanuelle II and Umberto I.
the floor is covered by Attica marble.