Oltre il Pantheon - Beyond the Pantheon

A new way to visit the Pantheon, with a tour that gives visitors access to previously unknown areas. Thanks to special effects, video mapping, architectural reconstructions, archaeological finds, reconstructions and 3D models, visitors can discover the thousand-year history of one of Rome’s most iconic monuments within the urban fabric.

Rich in layers, the spaces of the Basilica of Neptune behind the Rotunda, now open to the public, contain marble fragments, decorative elements, frescoes and liturgical architecture that, over the centuries, have been gradually removed from the Pantheon to make way for new layouts and worship requirements. Alongside these materials are archaeological finds, mainly from the late 19th-century excavations, which document not only the transformations of the Pantheon, but also those of the ancient Roman basilica and, in general, of the Campus Martius area.

The visit begins with an immersive video mapping that reconstructs the “special effects” of the Oculus, showing how the Pantheon was conceived as a sort of large cosmic clock. The first part of the tour focuses on the Pantheon of the emperors and the ancient landscape that surrounded it, with a multimedia table accompanying visitors through a reconstruction of the temple’s building phases. The second section tells the story of the Christian Pantheon, after its consecration in 609. Different works are on display: the 8th-century ciborium (reconstructed almost to full size), a fresco detached when the royal tombs were built, and the 17th-century aedicule that housed the icon of the Madonna del Pantheon, dismantled in the 1960s, preserved in fragments in the rear rooms and now reconstructed.

Thanks to a new internal lift, the visit is now also accessible to people with mobility difficulties.