The Pantheon

We made finally made it to our last full day in Rome.  Hard to believe it has taken me this long to write about AND so many posts.  I could have done it in one post BUT that would have been brutally long for everyone!

ANYWAY...we visited the Pantheon on our last day in Rome once again taking public transportation to meet up with our tour guide.  Our group had a total of 5 people in it - perfect size!!

Front entrance.  It is amazing how these ancient temples are in typical "modern" town squares.

Front obelisk.  One in front of every church.

Massive doors at the entrance.  These must be heavy and appear to be typical for Roman construction.

Front of the Pantheon. Mass is about to start as we visited on the Day of the Assumption of Mary.  The marble floors...beautiful!

Front altar.

While I didn't stick Robert in the picture for a size perspective, these had to be 8 foot tall...more really big candles...still used on special occasions.

The dome.

And the drain holes for the water when it rains through the hole in the dome.  Never thought about that issue but the Romans did!

Queen Margherita's tomb...everyone of our tour guides mentioned her and how the Margarita pizza is named after her and her creation. 

Raphael's tomb in the Pantheon.  It was interesting how we kept visiting famous leaders' and artists'tombs in the various churches.

Once we were finished with the Pantheon, we walked around the area and saw several other historic churches.  Unfortunately, my pictures didn't turn out well due to the no flash rule...

Exterior of the Hadrian temple now re-purposed...

Outside of Chiesa di Sant' Ignazio di Loyola (St Ignatius' church)...look at how tiny the streets are.  I thought driving in the neighborhoods of Brisbane was tough.  This would be a nightmare...definitely good for a smart car...

Rome was fascinating.  I could spend months there visiting all of the ruins and learning of the history...but there's just too much other stuff to see!

Next stop: Naples!