The Pantheon Rome
The Pantheon is one of the best-preserved buildings of the ancient world and is an architectural masterpiece. The name of Agrippa, which can still be read on the facade, remembers the son-in-law of the Emperor Augustus, who first built this temple dedicated "to all the gods". The present-day Pantheon, however, is the work of the Emperor Hadrian, who rebuilt the monument in the early 2nd century, keeping the ancient inscription only out of modesty.

In the 6th century the Byzantine emperor Phocas gave the building to Pope Boniface IV, who turned it into the present church of Sancta Maria ad Martyres, which explains why the building has been so well maintained.

For the solemn consecration of the church, the pope had 28 cartloads of bones of martyrs brought from the catacombs, putting them underneath the altar. During the ceremony, as the notes of the Gloria were struck, the Romans saw swarms of devils rise up and fly out the hole in the dome.

The most amazing characteristic of the building is the exceptional dome. The largest dome ever created out of concrete, it measures 43.30 meters in diameter and is greater than that of the dome of St.Peter's! The dome was created with different materials, each increasingly lighter as they ascend toward the top. At the peak, a large open "eye"' - 9 meters (30 feet) in diameter - allows sunlight to illuminate the interior. In the event of rain, water was carried away via drains still visible in the pavement.