There are two preeminent architectural survivors of the Classical age, the Pantheon in Rome and the Parthenon in Athens. The Pantheon, however, is the only one that not only remains intact, it has been in near continuous use for almost two millennium.
It's not much to look at from the outside, owing to a few ancient recycling programs; gilded bronze tiles that once decorated the exterior of the dome were carted off in 663 by the Byzantine emperor Constans II, and in the 1620's Pope Urban VIII re-purposed about two hundred tons of bronze that once encased the supporting beams and underside of the portico roof by turning them into cannons. According to some sources, he commented that the metal was better employed keeping enemies away from the Holy See than keeping rain out of the Pantheon.
Although the church is partly responsible for the Pantheon's somewhat homely exterior, the fact that it survives at all is largely due to the church taking it over in the seventh century and consecrating it as sacred space.
The interior today features a beautiful marble floor that preserves the original Roman design. There are shrines along the circular walls that include the tombs of the Renaissance painter Raphael and of several kings of Italy.
Probably the most interesting part of the Pantheon interior is the ceiling and the oculus, the hole at the top that illuminates the entire interior of the building.
The dome is made of concrete, which was a relatively new material in the second century. It is 142 feet across and was the largest in Rome by far for nearly fifteen centuries, until St. Peter's Basilica was built.
On rainy days, tourists flock to the Pantheon to see it rain indoors and they are not disappointed.
To read more about the architecture of the Pantheon, see here.
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