Pantheon

On our rainy day trip into Rome we found no lines at the Pantheon so....IN we went. The rain was coming through the oculus (opening) in the ceiling making the floor wet but that is part of the charm of the Pantheon. The opening also allows light into the massive space which was a very new idea when it was built between 25 and 27 B.C.

The Pantheon holds the record for being the best preserved ancient building in the world and has the biggest brick dome in the history of architecture. In 609AD it became the Church of Santa Maria Rotunda and is still used as such today. It was innovative in its time as the first place of worship opened for the common people. Prior to that time, churches were only for the use of nobility.