The story of this place
Rebuilt by Emperor Hadrian around AD 125 on the site of Agrippa's earlier temple (whose inscription he kept), the Pantheon is the best-preserved building of ancient Rome. Its coffered concrete dome spans 43.3 metres—identical to its height—and remains the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome. At its apex the 9-metre oculus opens to the sky, flooding the interior with a moving disc of light and letting rain fall onto sloped, drained marble. Consecrated as a church in 609, which spared it from destruction, it became a tomb for kings and artists: Raphael lies here, as do Italy's first two monarchs. Its proportions inspired domes from Florence to Washington.