Pantheon
Basilica of Santa Maria ad Martyres
Pantheon in Rome
The history of the Pantheon in rome
The Pantheon has represented the greatest expression of the glory of Rome for more than two thousand years. The story of the Pantheon is inseparably tied to the Eternal City. and been its image through the centuries. Built by Agrippa between 25 and 27 BC the Pantheon was a temple dedicated to the twelve Gods and to the living Sovran. Traditionally it is believed that the present building is result of the radical reconstruction by Hadrian between 118 and 125 AD. It is the only ancient Roman building that has remained practically intact through the centuries. In 608 Pope Boniface IV had the remains of many martyrs removed from the Christian catacombs and placed in the Pantheon. Thereafter the temple was officially converted to Christianity and named Saint Maria ad Martyres. The Pantheon was an inspiration to Raphael, one of the greatest architects of the Renaissance, and he requested it be his place of eternal rest.
Previous
Next
BASILICA DI SANTA MARIA AD MARTYRES
The Basilica is still a church, where Christian worship is celebrated continuously and which it considers essential to accompany the celebrations with commitments of solidarity. We therefore invite you to behave appropriately and keep silent. Those who came here to pray will be grateful to you.
Curiosity
History, curiosities and legends of the Basilica Sancta Maria ad Martyres
WHAT DOES THE INSCRIPTION ON THE PORTICO MEAN?
“Marcus Agrippa Luci filius consul tertium fecit” translates as “Marco Agrippa, son of Lucio, consulate for the third time, built”.
This is just one of the curiosities that you can find in the audioguide of the Pantheon. Do you want to discover them all, listening to the stories of the characters who have made the history of this place? Click on the icon below and book your visit with audio guide >>
DO YOU KNOW WHERE THE NAME PANTHEON COMES FROM?
Yes it does! Rain comes in through the oculus, a hole of almost nine meters in diameter, at the top of the cupola. The floor is slightly convex with 22 drainage holes that allow the rain to filter through.
This is just one of the curiosities that you can find in the audioguide of the Pantheon. Do you want to discover them all, listening to the stories of the characters who have made the history of this place? Click on the icon below and book your visit with audio guide >>
WHAT DOES: "QUELLO CHE NON HANNO FATTO I BARBARI LO HA FATTO BARBERINI" MEAN?
It means, “What the barbarians didn’t do, Barberini did for them.” The Romans did not appreciate that Pope Urban VIII and Barberini removed the bronze coatings from the porch of the Pantheon to create the canopy for the altar of the Basilica of St. Peter’s in the Vatican City, and also forged numerous cannons for the Sant’Angelo Castle.
Barberini’s name was thus forever linked to a popular saying: quod non fecerunt barbari, fecerunt Barberini: what the barbarians didn’t do, the Barberinis did for them. Even today this expression is still used by locals.
This is just one of the curiosities that you can find in the audioguide of the Pantheon. Do you want to discover them all, listening to the stories of the characters who have made the history of this place? Click on the icon below and book your visit with audio guide >>
FROM BRONZE TO LEAD: THE ASPECT OF THE CUPOLA CHANGES
The outside of the cupola was entirely covered with gilded bronze panels laid in scales. However, in 655, the Oriental Emperor Constantine I had them taken away to be used as molten bronze. The sole exception are the ones surrounding the oculi which you can still observe today.
During the 8th century, the cap was again ornamented with metal, but this time with lead. The original bronze frame of the Pantheon is still in place.
There is an inscription on one of the lead panels on the cupola that recalls the restoration work on the lead cover carried out by Pope Niccolò 5th (1328-1330) and Pope Gregory 16th (1831-1846).
This is just one of the curiosities that you can find in the audioguide of the Pantheon. Do you want to discover them all, listening to the stories of the characters who have made the history of this place? Click on the icon below and book your visit with audio guide >>
IS THE PANTHEON LIKE A SOLAR TEMPLE?
When we are inside the Pantheon on a sunny day we can see a large disc of light playing over the vault and walls. The course of the sun in the sky causes this light inside the building to behave differently every day of the year, but the same pattern is repeated every year on that same day. At the winter solstice the disc of sunlight entering through the oculus at midday strikes the highest caisson. At the Spring and Autumn equinoxes the sunlight strikes the cornice marking the lower edge of the caissons, and at the summer solstice it illuminates the visitor at the entrance. The light striking in a zenith direction has a special mystical meaning and symbolises a direct connection between the gods and men, without any religious intermediaries. The ray of light that enters from the oculus in the centre of the cupola moves according to the time of day and transforms the Pantheon into an astrological observatory to all the Gods.
This is just one of the curiosities that you can find in the audioguide of the Pantheon. Do you want to discover them all, listening to the stories of the characters who have made the history of this place? Click on the icon below and book your visit with audio guide >>
CIRCLES, SYMBOL OF PERFECTION
An architectural miracle would make the Pantheon a perfect sphere because its height is equal to its diameter: 43 m and 44 cm by 43 m and 44 cm.
Balance and stability are the principles followed by the ancient architects. And, in the Pantheon, they are summarized by the harmony of the lines and the perfect calculation of the geometries of the masses.
This is just one of the curiosities that you can find in the audioguide of the Pantheon. Do you want to discover them all, listening to the stories of the characters who have made the history of this place? Click on the icon below and book your visit with audio guide >>
DONKEY'S EARS IN THE PANTHEON
Apparently the Romans didn't like the two bell towers that were built at the sides of the front of the Pantheon during the Baroque period. They called them "donkey's ears".
According to them they were in contrast with the classical architecture that characterized the whole building. The bell towers were removed during the Unity of Italy.
This is just one of the curiosities that you can find in the audioguide of the Pantheon. Do you want to discover them all, listening to the stories of the characters who have made the history of this place? Click on the icon below and book your visit with audio guide >>
“THE MOST BEAUTIFUL RELIC FROM ANCIENT ROME”
“The beauty of the Pantheon has always struck people both in the past and the present. When the 18th century French writer Stendhal saw it for the first time he described it with the following words: “The most beautiful relic of ancient Rome, a temple so well preserved that it appears as the Romans must have seen it in their times.”
This is just one of the curiosities that you can find in the audioguide of the Pantheon. Do you want to discover them all, listening to the stories of the characters who have made the history of this place? Click on the icon below and book your visit with audio guide >>
THE FIGHT BETWEEN ADRIANO AND APOLLODORO
Some historians attribute the start of the Pantheon project to Apollodorus of Damascus, the famous Roman architect favored by Emperor Trajan, who upon his death entered the service of Hadrian.
In reality, Apollodorus of Damascus had never liked Hadrian so much, because once he had criticized one of his projects and he had shouted: “Get out of the way! Go and draw your own pumpkins. You've never understood anything about architecture!".
Hadrian tied it to his finger and a few years later, having become emperor, he had him executed.
This is just one of the curiosities that you can find in the audioguide of the Pantheon. Do you want to discover them all, listening to the stories of the characters who have made the history of this place? Click on the icon below and book your visit with audio guide >>
THE DOME? WHAT A STROKE OF GENIUS!
The dome of the Pantheon is an architectural masterpiece, a true stroke of genius by Hadrian! Oh yes, because, unlike many others, it is a dome entirely made of concrete that does not have a frame to stand on. To be able to build it, he invented a grandiose solution because he had it built in such a way that it became lighter as it rose in height, on the one hand reducing the thickness of the wall, which goes from six meters at the base to two meters near the central hole, and on the other, mixing increasingly lighter materials with the concrete, from travertine at the base to pumice stone at the top.
To support the skeleton he had the Pantheon filled with earth, it is said, mixed with gold coins and, once the work was finished, I invited the Roman citizens to take away the earth and keep the coins. Imagine how many people ran to empty the Pantheon: a real crowd, attracted more by the coins than by the duty of citizens... and so the Pantheon was emptied in the blink of an eye.
This is just one of the curiosities that you can find in the audioguide of the Pantheon. Do you want to discover them all, listening to the stories of the characters who have made the history of this place? Click on the icon below and book your visit with audio guide >>
BONIFACE IV AND THE LEGEND OF THE CONVERSION
Boniface IV received permission from the Byzantine emperor Phocas to convert the Pantheon to Christian worship. The Pope consecrated the Basilica of Santa Maria ad Martyres on May 13, 609 AD.
According to legend, on the day of the ceremony, when we Christians entered the Pantheon for the first time, seven demons took flight and fled from inside, seven just like the pagan deities who had inhabited the temple. One of these devils, trying to escape from the roof, would have blown off the golden pine cone that closed the hole with his horns, causing it to fall onto a nearby square, which for this reason would have taken the name of Piazza della Pigna.
It's just a legend but we like to imagine that this is how it happened.
This is just one of the curiosities that you can find in the audioguide of the Pantheon. Do you want to discover them all, listening to the stories of the characters who have made the history of this place? Click on the icon below and book your visit with audio guide >>
RAPHAEL'S REMAINS
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino chose the Pantheon for his burial; his remains, however, have not always been there where they are now, at the foot of the Madonna del Sasso.
In the nineteenth century the figure of Raphael enjoyed great favor and in 1833 the Virtuoso Giuseppe de Fabris began an excavation to verify the state of my tomb. You can't imagine the condition they found her in! A fir chest completely soaked due to the flooding of the Tiber contained Raphael's remains. Then, to give him a more dignified arrangement, his body was recomposed in a pine wood coffin, placed in another made of lead and sealed in that marble sarcophagus, donated by Gregory XVI who had the Latin epigraph attributed to it to Pietro Bembo:
Here lies Raphael, from him, when he lived, nature feared being defeated, now that he is dead, it fears dying.
The chapel chosen by Raphael for the burial is located precisely at the cardinal point where the last ray that the sun projects into the Pantheon strikes at the end of the day. Some say it's a coincidence... do you believe it?
This is just one of the curiosities that you can find in the audioguide of the Pantheon. Do you want to discover them all, listening to the stories of the characters who have made the history of this place? Click on the icon below and book your visit with audio guide >>
THE RAIN OF PETALS LIKE TONGUES OF FIRE...…
The enchantment of the rain of petals occurs every year on the occasion of Pentecost, which is celebrated fifty days after Easter, to remember the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Madonna and the apostles.
The Bible narrates that they were all gathered in the place where Jesus had eaten the Last Supper. Suddenly a noise like a strong wind broke through the house and tongues of fire appeared and landed, one on each of them. The apostles filled with the Holy Spirit began to speak in other tongues and from that moment anyone who listened to them began to perceive their words as if they were spoken in their own native language.
The apostles had in fact been entrusted with the task of spreading God's message on Earth and from that moment on they managed to make themselves understood by everyone!
This is just one of the curiosities that you can find in the audioguide of the Pantheon. Do you want to discover them all, listening to the stories of the characters who have made the history of this place? Click on the icon below and book your visit with audio guide >>
Yes, the basilica is a church!
Every year millions of people from all over the world enter the Pantheon. Some don't know this is a church. Some are not Christian. Many do not belong to any religious faith. They are tourists who come in to visit a monument of the past and have the opportunity to discover that the Pantheon is the Basilica of Santa Maria ad Martyres. And even if they are simple visitors they can discover themselves a bit like pilgrims.
This is just one of the curiosities that you can find in the audioguide of the Pantheon. Do you want to discover them all, listening to the stories of the characters who have made the history of this place? Click on the icon below and book your visit with audio guide >>