Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
exhilarating experience to pass through the towering bronze doors and have your vision
directed upwards to the largest unreinforced concrete dome ever built.
Its current form dates to AD 120, when Hadrian built over Marcus Agrippa's original
27 BC temple - you can still see Agrippa's name inscribed on the pediment:
'M.AGRIPPA.L.F.COS.TERTIUM.FECIT' or 'Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, consul for
the third time, built this'. Hadrian's temple was dedicated to the classical gods - the name
Pantheon is a derivation of the Greek words
pan
(all) and
theos
(god) - but in AD 608 it
was consecrated as a Christian church and it's now officially known as the Basilica di
Santa Maria ad Martyres.
During the Renaissance it was much admired - Brunelleschi used it as inspiration for
the Duomo in Florence - and it became an important burial chamber. Inside you'll find
the tomb of the artist Raphael, alongside those of kings Vittorio Emanuele II and Umberto
I.
However, the real fascination of the Pantheon lies in its massive dimensions and ex-
traordinary dome. Considered the ancient Romans greatest architectural achievement, it
was the largest dome in the world until the 15th century and is still the largest unrein-
forced concrete dome in existence. Its harmonious appearance is due to a precisely calib-
rated symmetry - its diameter is exactly equal to the Pantheon's interior height of 43.3m.
Light enters through the oculus, an 8.7m opening in the dome, which also served as a
symbolic connection between the temple and the gods. Rainwater also enters but drains
away through 22 almost invisible holes in the sloping marble floor.
The exterior, although somewhat the worse for wear, is still imposing with 16 Corinthi-
an columns supporting a triangular pediment. Little remains of the ancient decor, although
rivets and holes in the brickwork indicate where the marble panels were once placed, and
the towering 20-tonne bronze doors are 16th-century restorations of the originals.
Chiesa di Santa Maria
Sopra Minerva
CHURCH
(Piazza della Minerva; 8am-7pm Mon-Fri, 8am-1pm & 3.30-7pm Sat & Sun; Largo di Torre Argen-
tina)
Bernini's much-loved Elefantino sculpture trumpets the presence of the Dominican
Chiesa di Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, Rome's only Gothic church. Built on the site of an
ancient temple to Minerva, it has been much altered over the centuries and little remains
of its original 13th-century form.
