Pantheon

The Pantheon, the best-preserved monument of ancient Rome, remains the most magnificent symbol of the Empire. Dedicated to all the gods (Pan - theos) it was conceived as much as a secular imperial monument as a shrine. In 609 AD it was converted into a church, the first temple in Rome to be Christianized. The original temple was built of travertine, during the third consulate of Agrippa (27 BC), son-in-law of Augustus, to commemorate the victory at Actium over Antony and Cleopatra. Despite the dedicatory inscription on the pediment: 'M. Agrippa. L. F. Cos. tertium fecit', (Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, third time Consul, made this'), the current structure has been proved to be the work of Hadrian (AD 118-125).

Pantheon - View of Portico

The portico is nearly 34m wide and 15.5m deep and has 16 monolithic Corinthian columns of red and gray granite - each 12.5m high and 45m in circumference. Eight columns stand in front (octastyle) while the others are disposed in four rows, forming three aisles, the central one leading to the great bronze door, which dates from Pius IV's reign (1559-65). In the 17th century Pope Urban VIII Barberini melted down the great bronze ceiling of the portico to make the great baldacchino over the high altar of St. Peter's as well as 80 canon for the Castel Sant'Angelo. This rape prompted Pasquino's stinging gibe: 'Quod non fecerunt barbari fecerunt Barberini' ( What the Barbarians did not do, the Barberini did).

Pantheon - Interior Elevation

The Rotonda consists of an enormous cylindrical wall ( 17 feet thick) supporting a huge cupola punctuated with enormous square coffers that help to reduce the enormous weight of the concrete dome. The cupola was constructed with a single application of cement over a wooden frame. Its diameter of 142 feet, equal to its height, makes it the largest vault ever constructed in masonry, Michelangelo's dome of St. Peter's being consciously smaller with a diameter of just under 138 feet.

Piazza della Rotonda

The square in which the Pantheon is currently set was created during the pontificate of Clement XI (1700-21). At the same time Giacomo della Porta's fountain of the late 16th century was drastically modified, adding a pedestal decorated with dolphins and Clement's papal coat of arms (stemma). The whole was surmounted by an obelisk of Ramses II which was formerly erected at the neighboring Temple of Isis. The destroyed (and pillaged) Temple of Isis as well as the Pantheon are both within steps of our hotel: The Plaza Minerva.