Nearly nineteen centuries old and still roofed. Step in under the open eye of the largest unreinforced concrete dome ever built, then take your espresso round the corner.
Hadrian rebuilt the Pantheon around AD 125 but kept Agrippa's name on the portico. It became a church in the 7th century, which is why it survived almost intact.
The rotunda is a perfect sphere's worth of space: the dome is 43 metres across and exactly as high. At the top the oculus, nine metres wide, is open to the sky; rain falls in and drains through holes in the marble floor.
Since July 2026 entry costs €7 with a timed slot; book ahead for weekends. Entry is free on the first Sunday of the month.
Inside lie the kings of Italy and, on the left, Raphael, under an epitaph by his friend Cardinal Bembo.
Thirty minutes inside, longer on the piazza.
Sixteen granite columns, each a single block shipped from Egypt, and Agrippa's inscription above.
Stand in the centre under the oculus and watch the disc of sunlight move across the coffers.
The painter asked to be buried here; he died at 37 in 1520.
Sant'Eustachio or Tazza d'Oro, both a couple of minutes away; stand at the bar like a Roman.
A marble elephant carrying an obelisk, in front of Rome's only Gothic church.
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Book the timed slot online; walk-up tickets are sold when slots are free, which is rare on weekends.
No Metro nearby; walk from Piazza Navona or the Trevi Fountain, or take a bus to Largo di Torre Argentina.
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