Welcome to The Pantheon

The Pantheon in Rome is a famous ancient Roman building with a giant concrete dome and a round opening at the top called an oculus. It was originally built under emperor Augustus (27 BC–AD 14) and reconstructed around 125 A.D. by Emperor Hadrian and later turned into a Christian church.  Almost two thousand years after it was built, the Pantheon’s dome is still the world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome.  The dome is also a giant sun dial. It is one of the best-preserved of all Ancient Roman buildings, in large part because it has been in continuous use throughout its history.

In 609 CE, the building became a Christian church named Santa Maria ad Martyres, which helped preserve it from destruction.  The interior holds the tombs of important figures, including the Renaissance painter Raphael and several Italian monarchs

The structural integrity of the building has not been compromised in the nearly 2000 years since it was built. The building has managed to survive fires, earthquakes, invasions of the city, and floods without any worry by modern engineers that it will collapse, which really is remarkable.