Pantheon
This magnificently preserved monument was begun in 27 BC by Marcus Agrippa as a temple to Mars and Venus and rebuilt in AD 2 by Hadrian after it had been damaged in a fire. The façade sports Corinthian columns, a deep porch, and domed roof. Inside is a huge, acoustically perfect rotunda lit naturally from a 9-meter-wide (30-foot-wide) central oculus high above in the cupola. The marble floor of the rotunda is empty, but around the curvilinear sides of the immense enclosure are chapels containing the tombs of Italian kings, including that of Victor Emanuel II, the first sovereign of a unified Italy. To many people, however, the most important tomb here is that of the painter Raphael, who is buried between the fifth and sixth chapels.
Address:
Piazza della Rotunda
Rome
Italy
Telephone: +39 (6) 36-98-31