The ancient circular Catholic church with a typical ancient façade and a massive dome with a skylight that brings light into the building was completed in 118 and originally dedicated to All Saints.

The Pantheon is the best preserved monument of ancient Rome and the most important building of Roman architecture.

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The Oculus: a unique skylight

Even though the temple is located in the dense buildings of the centre, its massiveness is evident at first glance. The massive entrance with 16 granite columns 12 metres high with Corinthian capitals leads through a heavy bronze door into a huge rectangular foyer.

From there you enter the circular temple, which is decorated with a large 44-metre high dome with the largest vault ever built.

The centre of the dome is adorned with an oculus, a circular opening 9 metres wide that allows natural light into the temple. The brick walls of the temple itself are extremely thick, up to 6.5 metres.

The slightly convex marble floor (to visually enlarge the interior) has 22 holes for water drainage.

Do I need to book a ticket in advance?

It isopen daily from 9:00 to 18:30. Closed only on 1.1, 15.8 and 25.12.

Entrance to the temple is for 5 eur and due to the long queues, we recommend buying tickets online via the website portale.museiitaliani.it.

However, booking online is not necessary, you will just lose more time in the queue.

Free admission on the 1st Sunday of every month.

• 👉 Online reservation is for the exact time (queue about 10 minutes)
• 👉 Entry with ticket purchase on the spot: queue 30-60 minutes
• 👉 If you don't have a ticket, arrive as early as possible in the morning, queues before opening time tend to be about 20 minutes

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