¬ The Pantheon is one of the most celebrated buildings in architecture history. It has left its stamp upon architecture more than any other building (MacDonald, 1976). It served as the source of inspiration for countless other centralized schemes all over the globe. Constructed between 118 and 125 CE under the government of the emperor Hadrian. It is located in the Campus Martius district of ancient Rome.

The writing of Ammianius Marcellinus a Roman soldier and historian from the mid-4th century describes the Pantheon as a building perceived to be “a self-contained district” (PI, 2010). Dio Cassius a Roman consul and noted historian from the early-3rd century reports that the Pantheon was a temple devoted to numerous gods and its name is attributed to the manner in which its elevated dome is similar to description of the heavens. Though he seems to have mixed up the Hadrianic Pantheon with an older temple which was previously located on the same site and constructed by Marcus Agrippa a Roman statesman, general and architect. Dio's description remains appropriate (PI, 2010).

The Pantheon is made up of two major components, a columnar door which supports a pediment, and a domed rotunda —linked together by a rectangular transitional block (PI, 2010). The of the Pantheon’s threshold, a pedimented, trabeated temple front is a good example of how the Romans extend customary ideas by mitigating radical innovation with archaic features that express prestige and power (C, 2010). It is a remarkable integration of the Hellenistic horizontal beams system with the space-molding forms of vault and arch which the Romans specialize in. The enormous scale of the pantheon commands respect. With a span of 43 meters the Pantheon’s dome has never been surpassed in masonry (PI, 2010).

The interaction between architectural and natural element, predominantly apparent in the view of the celestial vault framed by its oculus and the constantly varying effects of light, shade and shadow, creates an implicit but powerful connection between the human beings and the celestial. It was described by Michelangelo as “angelic, not human.” (PI, 2010). These attributes certainly made the Pantheon the temple of the gods.

In the early 7th century the Pantheon it was converted into a Christian church sacred to Santa Maria dei Martiri. Its transformation into a church is the reason behind the current remarkable well preserved condition (PI, 2010). This gives us a precise impression of how elaborately multifunctional Roman architecture was. It is even more significant for its seamlessly semicircular dome of 44.4 meters in diameter which held by a rotunda. This construction of the Pantheon was made possible by the Roman discovery of concrete vaulting, which enable the opening up of interior spaces in a manner never realized by the Greeks (C, 2010). The Pantheon was the product and depiction of the technology available in Rome in that period.

In the mid-7th century the Byzantine Emperor Constans II detached its golden roof tiles but the building's general structure was unaltered all through the middle ages. Stamps on the lead covering of the dome are evidence of alterations by Pope Nicholas V (1447-1455) and his successors (PI, 2010). The most notable modifications to the Roman Pantheon took place during the reign of Pope Urban VIII (1623-1644): the removal of bronze from the trusses of the entrance and the addition of two bell towers, which were finally taken out in the late 19th century. Within the rotunda, the roof space was modified following designs of Paolo Posi in 1756-1757. (PI, 2010)

Through the past five centuries the Pantheon’s reception has been admired but Time after time commentators have qualified their admiration of the Pantheon with terminologies of disappointment over specific aspect of the design, the uncooperative integration of the building element (portico, rotunda and transitional block). The lack of harmony between the building elements and enormity of the Pantheon is confusing. Renaissance artists and architects implicitly criticized, for example, Serlio describes the pantheon as the “most beautiful”, “most whole” and most thought of roman structure but he illustrates the façade with the proportions adjusted while omitting the upper pediments. Michelangelo speculated that the Pantheon’s portico and rotunda were design by different architects. (Davies, P., Hemsoll, D., & Jones, 1987)

Gian Lorenzo Bernini repelled the advances of Alexander VII to modify the attic, claiming that he was deficient in the skills required to improve on the original ideas of the Pantheon. Strangely, the perfect proportions of the Pantheon allowed the buildings irregularities and flaws to really visible. Francesco di Giorgio Martini, observing a disconnection between the coffering of the dome and the roof space columns, he attempted to correct this flaw through his drawings. Another irregularity, the double pediment, encouraged Andrea Palladio's creative resolution for the facade of the Venice Redentore (PI, 2010).

The numerous theme of Hadrian's Pantheon have recurrently advanced the history of Western architecture (PI, 2010). The stepped exterior outline of the Pantheon's dome inspired Bramante in his design for a new St. Peter's, by Borromini in Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza, and by John Russell Pope in the National Gallery of Art in Washington. The classic image of a domed rotunda growing behind a temple front has established flexibility has the years go by, the idea is identifiable in Palladio's Villa Rotunda, Jefferson's library rotunda at the University of Virginia, and a so many others. The Pantheon's legacy, together with its distinguished progeny, reveals the lasting strength of its artistic possibilities (PI, 2010).

The interpretations of the Pantheon by various authors show a range of conflicting views. Although they all agree on the large impact of Pantheon on roman and world architecture, they disagree on the aesthetic and beauty in the design. Some authors believe is the poster child for architecture while others believe the building was displeasing but wasn’t criticized explicitly out of respect for its sacredness .