What to See Inside the Pantheon in Rome

1. The bronze doors

Pause at the doorway. The roughly 7-metre bronze doors are widely considered ancient and operate on an ancient pivot system — pins set into threshold and lintel rather than side hinges. Their exact date has been debated, and fittings and panels have been repaired and replaced over the centuries, so "the original hinges, untouched" is more romantic than accurate. Ancient in conception, maintained ever since, is the fair description.

2. Your first view of the dome

Step through and stop. Do not look around — look up. The interior is a sphere fitted into a cylinder: the diameter and the height to the oculus are both about 43.3 metres, so a ball of that size would touch the floor and the crown exactly. That single relationship governs everything you are standing in.

3. The oculus

The opening at the crown, about 9 metres across, is the rotunda's principal source of natural light. Watch it for a minute and you can see the sunbeam sliding across the dome and walls; the exact path depends on the season and time of day, so treat any "morning here, afternoon there" rule as approximate. When it rains, water falls straight in and drains through holes in the floor. Read why there is a hole in the Pantheon's roof.

4. The coffers

The 140 sunken panels overhead, in five diminishing rings, are the coffers. They remove weight from the shell and, because they shrink as they rise, exaggerate the perceived height. Each is often said to have held a gilded bronze rosette; that is a long-standing reconstruction based on fixing traces and comparanda rather than a surviving example.

5. The marble floor

Look down. The pavement reproduces the ancient Roman design in squares and circles of yellow Numidian marble, red porphyry and grey granite, and was substantially restored in the nineteenth century, so what you walk on is a mixture of ancient material and restoration. It is gently convex — survey figures put the centre roughly 30 cm above the edges — and pierced by around 22 small drainage holes that carry rainwater away.

6. Raphael's tomb

Walking clockwise from the door, Raphael's tomb is on the left-hand side of the rotunda as you walk clockwise from the doors. The painter died in 1520 at 37 and had asked to be buried here. Above the tomb stands the Madonna del Sasso by Lorenzetto, with Cardinal Bembo's Latin epitaph: "Here lies Raphael, by whom Nature herself feared to be outdone while he lived, and when he was dying, feared herself to die."

7. The royal tombs

The tombs of Italy's first two kings flank the apse. Vittorio Emanuele II (died 1878) lies to the right of the apse in a large porphyry monument; Umberto I and Queen Margherita lie to the left of the apse. Volunteers from a monarchist association keep an honour guard, though not continuously.

8. The high altar

The apse opposite the entrance holds the Christian high altar, in the form given it under Pope Clement XI in the eighteenth century. Above it is an early medieval icon of the Virgin traditionally associated with the building's consecration as a church in 609 AD — a tradition rather than a documented provenance. The Pantheon is an active church: the regular schedule is a Saturday vigil Mass at 17:00 and Sunday Mass at 10:30, with no regular Sunday noon Mass. See attending Mass at the Pantheon.

9. The niches and chapels

The rotunda wall is opened by large niches, alternating rectangular and semicircular, plus the apse. What originally stood in them is not recorded: the popular idea that each held one of seven planetary gods is a modern hypothesis, not an ancient description. Today they hold Christian altars, chapels and monuments, several with paintings worth a closer look — including the Chapel of the Annunciation, whose fresco is traditionally attributed to Melozzo da Forlì, an attribution specialists still debate.

For what most visitors walk straight past, read hidden details inside the Pantheon, or plan the practical side with our Pantheon visitor guide.

Sources and further reading

• Direzione Musei nazionali della città di Roma (Ministry of Culture) — official Pantheon page: hours, tickets and access
• Encyclopaedia Britannica — Pantheon, Rome: structure, dating and history
• UNESCO World Heritage List — Historic Centre of Rome
• Turismo Roma — official city tourism information

Facts on this page last checked: August 2026. Prices, opening hours and transport routes in Rome change — always confirm with the official source before your visit.

Continue reading about the Pantheon

Frequently Asked Questions

What is there to see inside the Pantheon?

The dome and oculus, the coffered ceiling, the Roman marble floor pattern, the roughly 7-metre bronze doors, the tomb of Raphael, the tombs of Italy's first two kings, the high altar, and the niches and chapels around the rotunda.

How long do you need inside the Pantheon?

A focused visit takes 25–40 minutes. With a guided tour or audio guide, allow around an hour. Architecture enthusiasts often stay longer.

Is there anything to see downstairs in the Pantheon?

No. Visitors see one main interior level, the rotunda. There is no public crypt or basement.

Can you take photos inside?

Personal photography is normally allowed without flash, but do not photograph during Mass. Tripods and professional equipment require permission, and rules can change — check the official site before visiting.

What is the most important thing to see inside?

Look up. The oculus and coffered dome are the reason the building has influenced Western architecture for nearly two thousand years.