Pantheon
Basilica Minore; State Museum Of The Direzione Musei Nazionali Della Citta Di Roma; Within The UNESCO Historic Centre Of Rome (1980) · Rome, Lazio
The best-preserved building of ancient Rome and still, nineteen centuries on, the largest unreinforced concrete dome on earth: 43.3 metres across and exactly as high, so a sphere would sit inside it, lit only by the 9-metre open oculus at the top. Hadrian completed it around AD 126 on the site of Agrippa's earlier temple, whose name is still on the portico, and in 609 it became the church of Santa Maria ad Martyres, which is the reason it was never quarried like the Forum next door. Raphael is buried here, as are the first two kings of united Italy and Queen Margherita. Rain falls straight through the oculus onto a gently sloped floor with drains, and on 21 April, Rome's birthday, the noon sun lands on the doorway. It has charged for entry only since July 2023; the ticket rose to 7 euros in July 2026, with free days and a walk-up ticket office still in place. It remains a working church, so visits stop during Mass and the dress code is the one you would expect in one.
Piazza della Rotonda, Rome, Lazio, 00186, Italy
Daily 9:00-19:00, last entry 18:30, ticket desk closes 18:00; sales stop one hour before Mass (Saturday 17:00, Sunday and holidays 10:30). Closed 25 December and 1 January unless the Ministry announces an extraordinary opening.