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The Pantheon
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Located on the Piazza della Rotonda, the Pantheon, which was begun in the year 27 B.C. under Emperor Agrippa, is the most well preserved building of the Ancient Roman period. The building, once an awe-inspiring temple dedicated to all the planetary gods, has somehow managed to persevere despite immense adversity. It survived a terrible fire and was rebuilt by Emperor Hadrian in 120 A.D. and in 1609 it was converted into a church and barely escaped complete destruction.
The facade has a triangular pediment held up by sixteen Corinthian columns. Inside you find yourself in one of the most humbling and solemn spaces in all of Rome. The most striking feature is, without a doubt, the impressive cupola. This is one of the grandest cupolas ever built and at its centre is the oculus, a hole measuring 9 metres in diameter that allows light to filter into the space, creating indescribably beautiful patterns and plays with light and shadow. When it rains, the water falls into the Pantheon but runs off through several, small holes in the ground.
The Pantheon still manages to inspire wonder in those who visit, but its current state is nothing compared to the splendour it once possessed. Long ago both the interior and the exterior of the cupola were covered in bronze, but the "needs" of the time caused the burnished metal to disappear. The Pantheon was stripped of its bronze, which then found its way into the cannons at the Sant'Angelo Castle and the impressive baldachin that Bernini fashioned for the Saint Peter's Basilica. Pope Urban VII, the pontiff responsible for ransacking the Pantheon, belonged to the Barberini family, which led the Romans to develop a more than appropriate word-play. When asked to explain the deterioration of the once splendid Pantheon, Romans like to reply by saying that "the Barberini greatly appreciated everything that the barbarians hadn't taken from the Pantheon".
Despite losing much of its splendour over time, the Pantheon never fails to impress and a stay in Rome isn't complete until you have visited this site (admission to which is free). In addition to the space itself, you can visit the tombs of Vittorio Emmanuele II and Umberto I, the first kings of Italy, and the final resting place of the great artist Raphael. The latter tomb bears an inscription that is difficult to decipher and is one of those little mysteries that adds to the space's dream-like and haunting atmosphere.