Pantheon
N 41° 53.939 E 012° 28.607
33T E 290695 N 4641639
The Pantheon is a building in Rome which was originally built as a temple to the seven deities of the seven planets in the state religion of Ancient Rome, but which has been a Christian church since the 7th century.
Waymark Code: WM196E
Location: Lazio, Italy
Date Posted: 03/02/2007
Views: 254
is the best-preserved of all Roman buildings. It has been in continuous use throughout its history. Although the identity of the Pantheon's primary architect remains uncertain, it is largely assigned to Apollodorus of Damascus.
The original Pantheon was built in 27 BC-25 BC under the Roman Empire, during the third consulship of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, and his name is inscribed on the portico of the building. The inscription reads M·AGRIPPA·L·F·COS·TERTIUM·FECIT, "Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, during his third consulate, built this". It was originally built with adjoining baths and water gardens.
Agrippa's Pantheon was destroyed along with other buildings in a fire in 80, and the current building dates from about 125, during the reign of the Emperor Hadrian, as date-stamps on the bricks reveal. It was totally reconstructed, with the text of the original inscription added to the new facade, a common practice in Hadrian's rebuilding projects all over Rome. Hadrian was a cosmopolitan emperor who traveled widely in the east and was a great admirer of Greek culture. He seems to have intended the Pantheon, a temple to all the gods, to be a kind of ecumenical or syncretist gesture to the subjects of the Roman Empire who did not worship the old gods of Rome, or who (as was increasingly the case) worshipped them under other names. How the building was actually used is not known.
The building was later repaired by Septimius Severus and Caracalla in 202, for which there is another, smaller inscription.
Most Relevant Historical Period: Roman Empire > 27 B.C.
Admission Fee: Free
Opening days/times:
8.30 - 19.30, Sun 9-18, holidays 9 - 13.
Condition: Completely intact or reconstructed
Web Site: Not listed
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