Chapels, Tombs and Aediculas of the Pantheon in Rome

Alessandro Specchi, Mosaics in the apse of the fourth Chapel of the Pantheon in Rome, Italy

A. Specchi, Mosaics Seven chapels and eight Aediculas decorate the interior of the Pantheon's rotunda.

They were all already present when the Romans built the temple.

The only difference is that following the consecration of the Pantheon as a Christian Basilica in 603, only the god of the Christians could be represented there.

The bays became chapels while the aediculas containing the statues of the Roman gods were emptied.

Fortunately, these changes in decoration have not profoundly modified the impression of grandeur, harmony and beauty that the Pantheon can still transmit to us when we enter it.

Andrea Camassei, Assumption of the Virgin, first aedicula of the Pantheon in Rome, Italy

Assumption of the Virgin Forty-three meters in diameter, Forty-three meters above us to the top of its dome, the celestial light from its oculus bathes us, all elements that have moved us to this sacred place since its origin.

Chapels changed their purpose over time; from pure chapels, two became burial sites for the first two kings of Italy.

In front of each rotunda chapels are two Corinthian marble columns carved in antique yellow marble, porphyry or granite.

In the same way, the Aediculas, empty of the Roman god's statues, have been decorated a little at a time over the centuries with paintings or sculptures.

Again, as with the chapels, one of the aedicula was transformed into a tomb of the painter Raphaël, who was the first to be buried in the Pantheon.

Chapels 1st Chapel | King Umberto I | 3rd Chapel | 4th Chapel | 5th Chapel | Vittorio Emanuele II | 7th Chapelle
Aediculas 1st Aedicula | 2nd Aedicula | Raphael Tomb | 4th Aedicula | 5th Aedicula | 6th Aedicula | 7th Aedicula | 8th Aedicula
Art Story Story | Porch Rotunda | Cupola | Basilica | Chapels Tombs
Pantheon Art Story | Location | Opening Hours Tickets | Authorisations

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