The Pantheon in Rome · Tickets, Opening Hours & History

The Pantheon in Rome · Tickets, Opening Hours & History

The Pantheon in Rome is an architectural marvel and has served as a model for domes and buildings across Europe and the Mediterranean world. Once a Roman temple and today a church, it is one of the most visited monuments in Italy.

Admission and Opening Hours

The Pantheon is open daily from 9 am to 7 pm. Admission costs €7. The rules of the state museums apply: on the first Sunday of each month admission is free for everyone. Free admission is also available for residents of Rome, young people under 18, and people with a disability of more than 75%. Reduced admission applies to EU citizens up to the age of 25.

During religious services the Pantheon is closed for visits. Masses take place:

• Saturdays and eves of public holidays: 5:30 pm
• Sundays and public holidays: 10:30 am

Tickets are no longer issued one hour before mass begins; the Pantheon remains closed until the service ends.

Admission is free during mass, but the Pantheon cannot be visited at these times.

Buy tickets online – skip up to one hour of queuing

The queue at the on-site ticket office can take up to one hour. Booking online lets you choose a time slot and skip the ticket queue entirely. Advance booking is therefore strongly recommended.

Buy Pantheon tickets online – choose a time slot, skip the queue

To hire an audio guide, an original ID document (identity card, passport or driving licence – student cards are not accepted) must be left as a deposit. Tickets with an interactive app are also available.

Piazza della Rotonda

In front of the Pantheon lies the lively Piazza della Rotonda, with a 16th-century fountain topped by an Egyptian obelisk dating from the time of Ramesses II. The square is lined with cafés and restaurants – a perfect spot for a break before or after your visit, though prices here are firmly tourist-level.

Architecture

What makes the Pantheon truly unique is its extraordinary dome. With a diameter of around 43 metres, it is the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world – and has held that record for nearly 1,900 years. The circular opening at the crown of the dome, the oculus, measures 9 metres across and is the building’s only source of natural light, opening directly to the sky. When it rains, water falls through the oculus onto the slightly inward-sloping marble floor, which drains through an ancient drainage system.

At Pentecost, firefighters shower red rose petals down through the oculus onto the faithful below – a spectacular event, though access is limited to a very small number of people.

The dome rests on a cylindrical drum, the rotunda. The building materials include concrete, tufa, travertine and brick. The rectangular entrance porch (pronaos) is supported by 16 columns: the 8 grey granite columns come from the island of Elba, while the 8 pink granite columns were quarried in Egypt. As the forecourt in antiquity was lower than today, visitors originally climbed five steps to reach the porch.

Cultural significance

The Pantheon has stood on the Campo Marzio for nearly 1,900 years, surviving earthquakes and other adversities without significant damage. This feat was made possible by the Romans’ development of an exceptionally strong concrete. The building has served as a model for domed structures around the world ever since – including the dome of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome, the Panthéon in Paris and the Capitol in Washington.

The Pantheon is the final resting place of several remarkable figures. Most famous is the tomb of the painter and architect Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio), who died in 1520 at just 37 years of age and was buried here at his own request. Also interred in the Pantheon are Victor Emmanuel II, the first king of unified Italy, and his son Umberto I with his wife Margherita of Savoy.

History

The first Pantheon was built on the orders of the consul Agrippa between 27 and 25 BC, probably as a private temple dedicated to the god Mars. In 80 AD it was destroyed by fire and restored by Domitian. In 110 AD it was struck by lightning and destroyed again, before being completely rebuilt by Emperor Hadrian between 112 and 124 AD. Most of the bricks used date from the original construction; only the upper section incorporates bricks from 115–127 AD.

The name may derive from the many statues of gods once displayed along the walls, or from the dome’s resemblance to the vault of heaven.

In 608 AD, the Byzantine Emperor Phocas donated the building to Pope Boniface IV, who consecrated it as the Basilica of Sancta Maria ad Martyres. This conversion saved the pagan temple from destruction.

In 1625, Pope Urban VIII Barberini had the bronze cladding of the porch removed and melted down to cast cannons for Castel Sant’Angelo. The outraged Romans coined the famous saying: Quod non fecerunt barbari, fecerunt Barberini – what the barbarians did not do, the Barberini did.