Pantheon & 360° Travel Guide 

Campo Dei Fiori & Surroundings

Palazzo Farnese	Campo Dei Fiori	Torre Argentina

Starting from the south is the Palazzo Farnese was commissioned by the then Cardinal Alessandro Farnesi in 1515. Its construction was halted, by the Sack of Rome in 1527, however with his election to Pope in 1534 it was completed with its third floor designed by Michelangelo who was also responsible for its redesigns in 1534 and 1541. It passed to the Bourbons who sold it to the French government in 1874 and is currently the French embassy. It featured in Puccinis Tosca. The Campo Dei Fiori gained its name "field of flowers" in the Middle Ages when the area was actually a meadow. The slightly eerie statue of the philosopher and priest Giordano Bruno was erected in 1887 on the site where in 1600 he was burnt at the stake by the Roman inquisition. Since the late 19th century it has been the site of a morning vegetable and fish market. To the east is the Torre Argentina which was excavated in 1929 and quickly became home to new occupiers; stray cats. Amongst its ruins is now an official cats sanctuary run by volunteers.

The Pantheon

Piazza Navona	Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi	Pantheon

Piazza Navona is one of Romes most beautiful and extensive public spaces with its bordering buildings built on the site of the Circus Domitianus, the piazza marks the area for the games. At its southern end, is the first of three fountains the Fontana del Moro (1576) with a statue of a Moor fighting a dolphin. In its centre is the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (1651) with a Roman (not Egyptian!) obelisk and four statues representing the Nile, the Danube, the Ganges, and the Rio della Plata; designed by Bernini. To one side is the Chiesa di Sant'Angese in Agone (1652-7) built on the site were St. Agnese was martyred. At the northern end is the Fontana di Nettuno (1574).

A short walk east is the Pantheon which is amazingly preserved. The current building dates from 125AD on the site of the original Pantheon built for Agrippa in 27BC but burnt down in 80AD. In front is a fountain and across the piazza a McDonalds!! .

Pantheon Dome	Chiesa di Sant'Ignazio	Tempio Adriano

Entering the Pantheon your eyes need to adjust to its subdued light (from its oculus in the centre of the dome) but its form, scale and condition is superb. Its consecration in 609AD as a Christian church Santa Maria ad Martyres probably explains why it survived when so many other great buildings suffered abandonment, looting and destruction in the 7th century. However marble and bronze was stripped for use in other buildings including Castel Sant'Angelo. It also holds the tombs of, amongst others, the painter Raphael and Italian monarchs Vittorio Emanuele II and Umberto I.

Heading further east is the Chiesa di Sant'Ignazio (1626-50) was built where the Temple of Isis had stood in what at the time was the Egyptian area of Rome;. It was dedicated to Ignatius the Basque founder of the Society of Jesus (1540) and was the church of the Roman College (1551) a "School of grammar, humanities and christian doctrine, free of charge" established by him. North is the Tempio di Adriano dedicated to Emperor Hadrian, built by his adopted son Pius in 145AD and its columns and facade are now incorporated into a 17th century building. It stands in "Piazza di Pietra", so named because it was constructed of stone from the original temple.