Sitting in the middle of the city, surrounded not by vast spaces, like the Roman ruins, or acres of piazza, like St. Peter's, you turn a corner onto a small piazza and there it is. The board announcing mass times had me confused at first, since I had missed the fact that this is now a functioning Catholic church. But once inside, the ancient Roman structure dominates all. Looking up at the oculus and seeing how it lights the vast space made me admire the Roman architects as much as anyone on the Palatine Hill. It was also lovely later in the week to see the interior space duplicated in the Sala Rotunda in the Vatican Museums. It was almost as lovely there.

This is a must visit attraction in Rome. Upon entering the Pantheon, you will be dwarfed and awed by its dome. It is the best preserved structure in Rome. The oculus or the round opening in the middle of the dome is the only source of light of the Pantheon.

I'd always wanted to see the Pantheon, but I had not expected it to have quite the impact that it did - there are bigger, flashier sights, but something about the Pantheon really endeared it to me - it's a warm, friendly old thing!

I first encountered it entirely by accident one evening in a rain storm. The exterior is striking (and nicely lit at night) and the interior open and inviting, as well as beautiful. The dome is remarkable, with its oculus open to the sky - there are signs telling people to be quiet because it is, after all, a church, but the crowd sheltering inside was joyous with many enjoying the unusual experience of indoor rain, and the building didn't seem to mind the laughter...

I returned to the Pantheon a couple more times during my stay, it is a remarkable place, always welcoming, never oppressive, but awesome, beautiful, and powerful. You have to remind yourself that this massive building is nearly 2000 years old, yet it remains strong and doubtless will be there long after we are gone.

As an added bonus, there are decent restaurants around the square in front of the Pantheon with some very good street musicians for entertainment - on a Friday night there was a male opera singer who was outstanding. The perfect compliment to this wonderful building - I'm sure I will never return to Rome without going back to it.

It was raining when we went and the water came down the hole in the ceiling (the oculus). It was terrific. The area on the floor was roped off to stop people slipping and you look closely you can see small holes where the water goes down.

Nice surprise to find the last resting place of Raphael.