We're here!! In the heart of Rome, just behind the Vatican. It's hot and muggy so we didn't do too much today. We saw Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers in Piazza Navonna and then headed to the Pantheon. Built by the Emperor Hadrian in the early 1st century AD it stands today as a beautiful archetictural monument. Of note amongst the many who are buried here is the artist Raphael. The eye or occulus in the center of the domed ceiling is open to the elements, and has been since it was built. There are drains in the floor to handle the water from rainfalls. The sun was shining through the opening today which was so appropriate to this formerly pagan shrine turned church.
"Eye of the Pantheon" © Kathy Dunham 2009
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