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Number 4 of 20 in Rome

The Pantheon: a Roman dome, open to the sky

The Pantheon is a temple of imperial Rome that never became a ruin. It has been in use for nineteen hundred years, and its dome has never been equalled in the material it is made of.

The Pantheon and its porch of granite columns, with a horse carriage waiting in the square in front.
Krzysztof Golik, CC BY-SA 4.0
What it is
Monument
Time to allow
30 to 45 minutes
Cost
Ticket
Best time
Around midday, when the sun comes through the roof

Rome this week

    Why the Pantheon is worth it

    The inscription on the front names Marcus Agrippa, who built a temple here under Augustus. That one burnt down. The building behind the inscription was put up under the emperor Hadrian and dedicated around the year 126, and Hadrian chose to keep the old name on it.

    Step through the bronze doors and the porch gives way to a single round room under a dome of poured concrete. Its height to the top and its width are the same, 43 metres, so a sphere would fit inside it exactly. Almost two thousand years on, it is still the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world. Brunelleschi studied it before he built the dome of Florence.

    It survived because it was given to the Church: since 609 it has been Santa Maria ad Martyres, and mass is still said in it. Raphael asked to be buried here, and was. So were the first two kings of united Italy.

    What to see

    1. The oculus

      The round opening at the top is the only window. It has never been glazed. The disc of sunlight it throws moves across the coffers of the dome through the day, and when it rains, the rain falls in and runs away through holes in the floor.

    2. The portico

      Sixteen columns, each a single shaft of Egyptian granite, hold up the porch. Look up at the bare roof timbers: the bronze that once covered them was taken off in the seventeenth century.

    3. Raphael's tomb

      On the left as you go round, under a statue of the Madonna he asked for himself. He died in 1520, aged thirty-seven.

    4. Piazza della Rotonda

      The square in front, with its fountain and Egyptian obelisk, is where to look at the building after dark, when the porch is lit and the doors are shut.

    How to do it well

    • Since July 2023 visitors need a ticket. You can buy it at the door, but a ticket booked for a set time saves the queue across the square.
    • Go on a wet day if you get one. Rain falling through the oculus into an empty space in the middle of the floor is something you will not see anywhere else.
    • It is a church. Cover your shoulders, keep your voice down, and expect visits to stop during mass.
    • It takes half an hour. Put it between Piazza Navona and the Trevi Fountain: each is less than ten minutes away on foot.
    • The coffee at the two old roasters round the corner is part of the visit: Tazza d'Oro and Sant'Eustachio are both a minute's walk away.

    Where it is

    Address

    Piazza della Rotonda, in the historic centre

    Nearest station

    Barberini, on line A, fifteen minutes on foot. Buses stop at Largo di Torre Argentina

    Museums and sights nearby

    Distances are in a straight line.

    Tickets and tours: Pantheon

    Pantheon: common questions

    Do you need a ticket for the Pantheon?
    Yes. Entry was free until July 2023 and has needed a ticket since. It can be bought on the day or booked ahead for a set time.
    Does it rain inside the Pantheon?
    Yes. The opening in the dome has no glass, so rain falls straight in. The floor is slightly domed and has small drain holes that carry the water away.
    Who is buried in the Pantheon?
    The painter Raphael, who died in 1520, the painter Annibale Carracci, the composer Arcangelo Corelli, and two kings of Italy, Victor Emmanuel II and Umberto I.
    How much time do you need for the Pantheon?
    Allow 30 to 45 minutes. That is this site's estimate for an unhurried visit.

    What visitors say about the Pantheon

    Rating from Google

    4.8

    288,556 ratings on Google

    Google's figures as read on 6 October 2026.

    Read every review on Google

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