Piazza Navona and the Pantheon

We made our way from the Tiber to the Piazza Navona walking down the streets of Rome. The weather was not the greatest, and as soon as we got to the Piazza Navona it started to pour, a little cloud burst, so we took refuge in a gelato shop. I can’t remember what kinds we got, but it was good. After a short while the rain let up a bit and ventured back out in the Piazza Navona.

Piazza Navona is a city square in Rome, Italy. It is built on the site of the Stadium of Domitian, built in first century AD, and follows the form of the open space of the stadium. The ancient Romans came there to watch the agones ("games"), and hence it was known as 'Circus Agonalis' (competition arena). It is believed that over time the name changed to 'in agone' to 'navone' and eventually to 'navona'.

Defined as a public space in the last years of 15th century, when the city market was transferred to it from the Campidoglio, the Piazza Navona is a significant example of Baroque Roman architecture and art. It features sculptural and architectural creations: in the center stands the famous Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi or Fountain of the Four Rivers (1651) by Gian Lorenzo Bernini; the church of Sant'Agnese in Agone by Francesco Borromini and Girolamo Rainaldi; and the Pamphilj palace also by Rainaldi and which features the gallery frescoed by Pietro da Cortona.

Here is a Piazza Navona sign

The Fountain of the Four Rivers (Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi) stands in the center of the Piazza. The four gods on the corners of the fountain represent the four major rivers of the world known at the time: the Nile, Danube, Ganges, and Plate. The design of each god figure has symbolic importance. It also has a large Egyptian inspired obelisk in the center.

Here is the fountain

A close up of one of the corners Here is the base of fountain
This is another fountain in the Piazza – Neptune’s fountain.This is the basilica of Sant’Agneses in Agone After looking around the Piazza Navona we left to take the short walk to the Piazza della Rotonda, where the Pantheon is located. On our walk we passed a drug store and I quick popped in. Even though I had intentionally left a ton of stuff in Venice to lighten my luggage weight, I had accidentally left my bath sponge hanging in the shower to dry out. I knew I would have a hard time getting through the next couple weeks with out one, so I wanted to pick one up in Rome. Unfortunately the drug store did not have bath accessories, so we continued on.

When we got to the Piazza della Rotonda it was raining quite hard again. This piazza is surrounded by restaurants and we could not find any place to take cover so we made a dash for it.

Here are some pictures of the Pantheon in the rain. As you see there are crowds of people taking cover under the portico. It was actually pretty crowded there and we had to work our way to the door.

Here is the door from the portico to the rotunda. Normally the first reaction of people to the Pantheon is how big it is, and how high and large the dome is, but my first impression was that it was raining inside. The oculus at the top of dome is uncovered and it was raining as hard in the building as it was out of it. You would think after all these years they would put glass there to protect the building from the elements, but I guess that is not a high priority. I took a video of rain falling.


They did rope off the marble floor where the rain fell. Once I got passed the fact that it was raining inside and worrying about the marble floor getting ruined by the rain, I was able to take in the history and magnificence of this place.

The Pantheon is a building in Rome, commissioned by Marcus Agrippa as a temple to all the gods of Ancient Rome, and rebuilt by Emperor Hadrian in about 126 AD. The building is circular with a portico of three ranks of huge granite Corinthian columns under a pediment opening into the rotunda, under a coffered, concrete dome, with a central opening (oculus) to the sky. Almost two thousand years after it was built, the Pantheon's dome is still the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome. The height to the oculus and the diameter of the interior circle are the same, 43.3 metres (142 ft). A rectangular structure links the portico with the rotunda. It is one of the best preserved of all Roman buildings. It has been in continuous use throughout its history, and since the 7th century, the Pantheon has been used as a Roman Catholic church dedicated to "St. Mary and the Martyrs" but informally known as "Santa Maria Rotonda."

Here is the ceiling of the dome

Here is the marble floor
Here is a shot of the interior of the Pantheon Here is a painting in one of the niches A statue The tomb of King Victor Emmanuel II A crucifix The Pantheon is current a minor basilica and is used for many catholic events and holidays – here is the alter The tomb of Raphael The tomb of King Umberto I and his wife Margherita di Savoia A sign telling whose tomb it is There is a guest book at the Pantheon that you can sign. Here I am signing it, marking my name in history as a visitor By the time we left the rain had let up considerably and we took our pictures outside.
Here is Shan with the Pantheon.

This is me.

Next up was the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain….

Castel Sant’ Angelo

By the time we left St. Peter’s square we were hungry and in the need of some water. Near the entrance of the square there were several street vendors where you could buy food – they had been closed when we came in, which disappointed us since we had wanted to buy some water. Not knowing what regulations Italy has on its food vendors or how reputable they were, we decided against getting lunch there and went to a little café/store just outside St. Peter’s square. Again we just ordered from the counter to avoid the charge for sitting. We both got panini’s, I got a prosciutto and provolone one and it was really good. I also grabbed a bottle of water and Shannon picked up a t-shirt. From the café we headed over to the Castel Sant'Angelo.

The Mausoleum of Hadrian, usually known as the Castel Sant'Angelo, is a towering cylindrical building in Rome, initially commissioned by the Roman Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum for himself and his family between 135 AD and 139 AD. The building was later used as a fortress and castle, and is now a museum.

Unfortunately the museum is closed on Monday’s so we were not able to go in. But we did walk around it a bit, and even took cover from a sudden rain shower.

Here we are approaching the Castel Sant’ Angelo A close up of the upper level The Castle is set on the banks of the Tiber River. Here is the walkway between the Tiber and the Castle. From the Castel Sant’ Angelo we headed to the Piazza Novano and the Pantheon. To get there we needed to cross the Tiber River. Here is the river.

As we crossed the river and walked on the path on it’s bank, I was struck by how small the river was. I remember learning about ancient Rome and all the Roman mythology that includes references to the river and I imagined it to be this massive river. It is not, in fact it is smaller than the Grand River in my home town. Again it was one of those cases where my perception of something did not match the reality.

From the river we made our way in the drizzle toward our next stop, the Pantheon.