Leading the list of “The 20 buildings you must visit in your lifetime” compiled by The Telegraph’s travel correspondent Simon Calder is the Great Pyramid of Giza, and it is impossible to find fault with that. And in second place Simon puts the Pantheon in Rome which is unique for having the world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome.
Although official figures place the Pantheon as the Eternal City’s 5th most visited monument after the Colosseum, St Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican Museums and the Trevi Fountain, Simon says “There is nowhere greater to stand than directly under the oculus at the centre of Rome’s peerless Pantheon," describing the ancient temple as “a mingled miracle of heavenly symbolism and earthly engineering.” And once again it’s impossible to pick holes in his words.
Built in its present form under the Emperor Hadrian, the Pantheon is almost 2,000 years old. Through the central oculus in its dome, which opens directly to the sky, sunlight moves across the interior during the day, and rain falls through the opening onto the marble floor below.
Visitors still enter through the ancient portico, stepping into the vast circular interior. The building also serves as a church and contains the tombs of the Renaissance artist Raphael and members of the Italian royal family. Calder’s ranking puts it alongside the world’s great architectural landmarks, and its extraordinary survival provides a compelling reason why every visitor should put it high on their list of things to see in Rome.
Pamela McCourt Francescone
Executive Editor
