Pan means “all”, and theos means “gods”. The breakdown of the name thus makes it clear that the Pantheon served as a temple for the Greek gods. Whether the Pantheon was indeed used for this purpose, we will never know.
The Pantheon also contains the remains of Raphael, as the temple was such an inspiration to him, that he requested to be laid to rest there when the time came.
Hadrian, the architect who built the Pantheon, was born in 76 AD, in Italy. he became interested in architecture and art – two topics that continued to fascinate him throughout his life.
It is speculated the location of the Pantheon in Rome was not by chance. An ancient Roman legend suggests that the location was the exact place where Romulus, the founder of Rome, died.
The walls of the Pantheon were made from Roman concrete. The Pantheon is so significant because it is a mixture of two entirely different architectural styles: Ancient Roman architecture and Greek architecture.
The main structure of the building, which holds everything together, is referred to as the rotunda, which is Italian for “round”. The rotunda was the first element of the Pantheon to be built while making use of the Roman concrete system.
The diameter of the Pantheon is 143 feet wide and the height from the floor to the top is also 143 feet high, which makes the interior a perfect sphere with outstanding proportions.
Looking closely at the oculus, it is evident that there is a bronze molding around it, which happens to be the only surviving element from the original Pantheon roof that was gilded in bronze.
A famous work is Interior of the Pantheon, Rome (1747) by Giovanni Paolo Panini. He painted the interior and made sure to fill the painting with numerous foreign visitors.