CNN iReport

Since I live in Rome, friends often come to visit in the summertime.  There are some places in Rome that I don't mind going again and again.  The Pantheon and the surrounding area is one of those.

The Pantheon is the best preserved of the most ancient buildings in Rome.  Although the entrance states that it was built by Agrippa (M·AGRIPPA·L ·F· COS·TERTIVM·FECIT), it really refers to the first temple on the site which was built  between 27 – 25 BC.  After a fire, it was rebuilt by Domitian, but it burned down again.  There is some discussion about who should get credit for designing the current structure.  It was rebuilt in its current form by Hadrian between 118 and 125 AD and some give him credit for its design, but that may not be the case.  He did not claim it as one of his own works but had the inscription made giving credit to Agrippa, though the design is quite different from the original.

The dome is about 142 feet in diameter (the Whitehouse dome is 96 feet in diameter.)  The oculus is 7.8 meters in diameter and is open.  Any rain that falls in goes down the drains built into the floor.  The main light in the building comes from the oculus.

             
The building was given to Pope Boniface IV in 609 and he converted it and consecrated it as Santa Maria ad Martyres.  The artist Raffaello is buried there with an inscription which says, more or less, "Here lies Raffaello:  when he lived, Nature was afraid of being outdone by him, when he died, she wanted to die herself." (The tomb pictured in the video is his.)  Also buried there are the painter Annibale Carracci, composer Arcangelo Corelli, and some members of Italian royalty:  Kings Vittorio Emanuale and Umberto I along with his Queen Margarita.

                 
The Pantheon is still also known as Santa Maria dei Martiri and masses and weddings are frequently celebrated there.  In fact, when I came with a friend to the Pantheon this weekend, there had just been a wedding there and so my video includes some pictures of the bride near the entrance of the building.  An interesting result was that the incense used during the wedding mass made the column of light coming from the dome even more striking than usual.