Rome

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Pantheon

The Pantheon was built by Hadrian in AD 119-128 as a temple to the most important deities; the inscription on the pediment records a Pantheon built 100 years before by General Marcus Agrippa (which confused historians for centuries). Its fine state of preservation is due to the building’s conversion to a church in 608, though its bronze cladding was purloined over the centuries: part is now in Bernini’s baldacchino in St Peter’s. The bronze doors are the original Roman ones. Inside, the Pantheon’s glory lies in its dimensions. The diameter of the hemispherical dome is exactly equal to the height of the building. At the centre of the dome is the oculus, a circular hole 9m (30ft) in diameter, a symbolic link between the temple and the heavens. Until the 18th century the portico was used as a market: supports for the stalls were inserted into the notches still visible in the columns.

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