Italy Picture of the Day

The Pantheon at Night (Taken by Hal)

The Pantheon is on a thriving little Piazza, surrounded by restaurants and gelaterias. We worried that we wouldn't actually get to see the inside of this fantastic building because both times we went to it during the day, there was mass going on (it's now a church, which was important for it to be, because had it not been a church years and years ago, it would probably have been destroyed). However, the second day we stayed until mass was over and were able to tour the inside. The Pantheon was very cool and wasn't a stressful/long tour at all.

The Pantheon is perhaps best known for its dome (the oldest large-scale dome in Rome), which was the inspiration for many modern domes. One of the most interesting things, I found, was that the oculus (the hole in the ceiling) is completely open -- there is no glass or shield protecting the church from the elements. The floor has holes in it that help drain the rain water. The floor also is covered in circles and squares for the decoration, and I heard a little kid ask his mother, "So you mean it only rains on this one circle?" The mother answered, "No, when the rain hits the ground it spreads out a bit."