Pantheon

The Pantheon is one of the most extraordinary and important works of Ancient Rome.

Built by the consul Agrippa between 25 and 27 before Christ, the Pantheon underwent various modifications due to structural damages caused by some fires, the latest of which started under the Emperor Adriano, because of lightning. Adriano ordered a new restoration and since then the Pantheon has taken on its present  appearance which up until today is still perfectly entire and is always magnificent; so we can understand precisely how it appeared to the ancient Romans.

Besides its incredible preservation, the Pantheon Rome boasts the biggest masonry dome in the whole history of architecture, and it is also considered the first place of modern worship:

In fact the Pantheon is a real cultural revolution because it was built as the first place of worship for people.

In ancient times, temples  (from Latin Templum = Circumscribed area) were considered as forbidden places and if someone crossed the threshold, it could also cost him his life!

Temples had a beautiful and an imposing appearance, but the interior was holy and so only the priests were allowed to enter it.

The Pantheon Rome has changed this concept and has become the first place of worship open to everybody, it is the ancestor of the modern churches and mosques.

The Pantheon is also one of the works which affected more the Italian, European and American architecture (the rotunda of British museum, the rotunda by Tomas Jefferson from the University of  Virginia, the library of Columbia University from New York, the Jefferson Memorial in Washington D.C. and the library of the state of Victoria in Melbourn in Australia) and it still attracts hundreds of visitors coming from the whole World every day.