The Pantheon

The Pantheon's construction began in 27 BC following the orders of statesman Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, and it was originally built as a temple to the seven deities worshiped in Ancient Rome. The Pantheon temple, along with others, was destroyed in a fire in the year 80. The Pantheon was reconstructed during Emperor Hadrian's reign, between AD 118 and 128. The building was then repaired by Septimius Severus and Caracalla in 202.

Studies show that the present temple is merely a reconstruction of the temple from the time of Hadrian.
The interior measures 43,40 meters in diameter, and the same in height. Light and air still enter through the opening at the top. The temple's exterior was covered by bronze tiles stolen in 663 by the Emperor of East Constant II. The bronze that covered the porticoes was used by Pope Urban VII for the casting of cannons. The walls are 25 feet wide  and the bronze entrance doors  are 20 tons each.

The Pantheon was an important influence for the architects of the Renaissance, for example  Brunelleschi's dome of the Duomo of Florence, completed in 1436. British Museum Reading Room, Thomas Jefferson's Rotunda at the University of Virginia or the Low Library at Columbia University, New York, are a few of the buildings that burrowed the structure of the Pantheon.

The building is regarded as one of the wonders of the Ancient period because of its dome and its construction, being considered one of the greatest spiritual buildings of the world. The Pantheon is open from 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday to Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday, and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on holidays that fall on weekdays except for Christmas Day, New Year's Day and May 1, when it is closed. Admission is free.