The Pantheon Rome - Despite being 1900 years old, The Pantheon in Rome
remains one of the city's best preserved ancient treasures. Rich in architectural
interest
as it is in history.
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Given that its been in the heart of Rome since very
early in the 2nd century AD (it was built, we're led to believe,
sometime between AD 119 and 128 by Hadrian), The Pantheon is looking
in remarkably good condition.
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Since
being built its always been a religious shrine of sorts - originaly as
a temple to 12 of the most important classical gods, and, since its conversion
in 608, as a christian church.
Its not exactly as it was, of course,- the bronze cladding from the roof
was stripped off in 667 and Bernini claimed the remaining bronze from the
roof beams allegedly for later use in St Peters in The
Vatican. The bronze
doors remain, however, and the interior is as striking as its ever been.
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Metro Linea A, Station Barberini,
then walk along Via Del Tritone. Buses 116, 116T. Opens 9:00am
- 8:30pm, no charges to view. Is included in a guided walking
tour of The Forum, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon and more, which lasts
approx 3 hours.
Click here to See
The Pantheon Rome in our "Rome on Foot" Guided Tour.
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As a church it contains tombs of eminent Italians, including the Renaissance
artist Raphael and Kings Vittorio Emanuale 2 and Umberto 1, as well as
Vittorio Emanuale's Queen, Margherita.
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The remarkable thing about the interior of The Pantheon
Rome is not only the scale of the semi-circular dome (which is as
high as the rest of the building is deep, meaning that the building
could hold a perfect sphere) but the nine metre oculus (a hole, basically)
at the centre of the dome. This is the only light source inside the
building and evokes a strange, subdued atmosphere - and lets in rain
and snow during inclement weather.
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Outside, the Piazza della Rotonda hosts a thriving cafe culture where
you can sit and watch the world go by - its one of our favourite places
to eat, and there are a couple of outstanding, smaller, hotels situated
in the square.
Right here, Rome has one of its finest jewels, and I can heartily recommend
you use one of our Rome
Guided Tours to add a visit to the Pantheon Rome
to your tour itinery.
We’re sharing all our tips for getting the best from these amazing
places in the pages of Lets-Travel-Rome.com, so make sure you look around
this part of the site right now!
Use the menu on left hand side to navigate through the
Rome Attractions section of my site.
Find
the Rome hotel of your dreams right here. So much
choice!
