Today a Christian church, the Pantheon is the best preserved of all ancient Roman buildings and has been in near-continuous use since Hadrian’s reconstruction. From a distance the Pantheon is not as awe-inspiring as other ancient monuments — the dome appears low, not much higher than surrounding buildings. Inside, the Pantheon is among the most impressive in existence. Its inscription, M•AGRIPPA•L•F•COS•TERTIUM•FECIT, means: Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, consul for the third time, built this. The original Pantheon of Rome was built between 27 & 25 BCE, under the consulship of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa. It was dedicated to 12 gods of heaven and focused on Augustus’ cult and Romans believed that Romulus ascended to heaven from this spot. Agrippa’s structure, which was rectangular, was destroyed in 80 CE and what we see today is a reconstruction done in 118 CE under the leadership of emperor Hadrian, who even restored the original inscription on the facade.
Two kings of Italy are buried in the Pantheon: Vittorio Emanuele II and Umberto I, as well as Umberto's Queen, Margherita. Although Italy has been a republic since 1946, volunteer members of Italian monarchist organizations maintain a vigil over the royal tombs in the Pantheon. This has aroused protests from time to time from republicans, but the Catholic authorities allow the practice to continue, although the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage is in charge of the security and maintenance
The Pantheon is still used as a church. Masses are celebrated there, in particular on important Catholic days of obligation and weddings.
I think I was 12 y/o when I visited this monument and I can remember well the tombs of kings and other important people inside, laid in a circle with marble statues on top of the coffin containing the remains of the dead.
What seems remarkable to me is that the Pantheon is in a densely populated area of the city of Rome with nothing around that might suggest the imposing importance of such building, there are florists, postcard sellers, bakeries and many other store types like it was any other place in town, the Pantheon is certainly not hidden, but it’s not even easy to find, given that no signs on the nearby roads point to it by name, I used to have friends who used to meet in front of it with a soccer ball to play a short game just to have simple fun, I wonder what the kings that are dead inside might think to see a bunch of kids running after a ball while cussing at each other for hours, and what the souls of all the ancient Romans who built it and used to spend time inside could think seeing such spectacle.
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