Built between 27 and 25 BC by Agrippa, the general of the roman navy and the son in law of the Emperor Augustus, the Pantheon represents perfectly the excellent engineering skills of the Romans. Its dome, rebuilt by the Emperor Hadrian between 118 and 125 with a blend of roman concrete, broken bricks and pomice stone, has been standing proud up to our current times and makes us blush comparing it to our contemporary architecture.
Once dedicated to the seven astronomical gods (Diana for the moon and Apollo for the sun, Venus, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn), in 608 it was donated by the byzantine emperor Phocas to the Pope Bonifacius IV, turned into a church (609) and devoted to the cristian martyrs with hundreds of their bones brought over from the catacombs. Nowdays services are celebrated on weekends, even in case rain enters from its 9-meter large opening on the ceiling since the ancient drainage system still works! I had a chance to walk behind the stage and these are the rooms that visitors normally do not see including a very old icon of the Virgin Mary dating to the 7th century.
