Today's Pantheon ("Temple of All the Gods") is not the original. Marcus Agrippa's Pantheon burned down in 80 AD, was rebuilt by Domitian, and again burned down in 110 AD. Emperor Hadrian completely restored the building in 126, and it is his Pantheon which stands today as the best-preserved building in Rome.
Romans were particularly skilled at concrete construction, and the Pantheon is the first temple to combine this technique with Greek classical orders. The 142-foot-diameter rotunda is the focal point of the building and reigned for nearly 2 millenia (until 1960) as the largest dome ever built. In order to support this massive structure, the walls were made 25-feet thick. The other main parts of the temple are the entrance porch and the vestibule.
This masterpiece of Italian architecture has had a profound influence on Western architecture throughout the ages, from the Renaissance to Classicism.
Inside the Pantheon in Rome, Italy. It was built in 27 B.C. and then completely rebuilt in 120 A.D. by the Emperor Hadrian. The Pantheon is one of the most influential buildings in art history. Its dome was the model for the dome of the cathedral in Florence, St. Peter's in Vatican City, and even the Capitol building in Washington, D.C.
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