The Pantheon and Piazza Rotunda

Adjacent to Minerva square is the "Temple of all the gods", one of the greatest structures of ancient Rome - the Pantheon (Pantheon on the map).

The building, covered with a 43-meter dome, was built in 126 ad, during the reign of Emperor Hadrian. The inscription on the pediment "M. AGRIPPA L F COS TERTIUM FECIT" (mark Agrippa, son of Lucius, elected Consul for the third time, erected this) recalls the old temple built on this site two centuries earlier by the Emperor Agrippa.

Unique even for Roman architecture, the structure is a rotunda made of brick and concrete.

The facade of the building is a portico with three rows of columns of the Corinthian order.

Сегодня Пантеон по какой-то причине был закрыт для посещения, однако можно было заглянуть внутрь через приоткрытую дверь. Видна кессонированная внутренняя поверхность купола с осветительным отверстием в центре и одну из семи ниш-усыпальниц.

Перед Пантеоном раскинулась площадь Ротонды (Piazza della Rotonda).

In the center of the square is the fountain of the Pantheon by Giacomo della Porta, built in 1575.

In 1711, on the instructions of Pope Clement XI, the fountain was rebuilt according to the design of Filippo Barigioni, resulting in a stone pool, in the center was installed the Egyptian obelisk Macuteo, created in the era of Ramses II. The base of the obelisk is decorated with four marble dolphins, which in 1886 were replaced by replicas of the sculptor Luigi Amici, and the originals were placed in the Museum of Rome.

The square is surrounded by buildings Dating back to the 17th and 18th centuries.On one of them you can see a large fresco dated 1775.

The image is dedicated to the immaculate conception, as indicated by a quote from the Song of Songs: "Tota pulchra es, amica mea, et macula non est in te"("You are all beautiful, my beloved, and I have no place in you").