Day Six: Many Gods

Off to see the Pantheon today, which looks in remarkably good condition since it was originally built by Marcus Agrippa in 27BC and dedicated to all the gods, rebuilt by the emperor Hadrian in about 127 AD and finally converted to a church in the 7th century. The dome is still the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world some 2000 years later. The sum streaming through the oculus gave rise to some amazing light. Would have liked to visited in the rain to see it coming through the oculus and hitting the granite floor but alas it didn't rain until much later in the day when the thunder clouds loomed ominously over the Vatican museum. This was a real contrast to earlier in the day when the fountain and obelisk in the Piazza della Rotonda was bathed in sunlight almost too bright to look at. After a rather wonderful fixed price lunch in a restaurant (bruschetta, pizza and drink) we stopped off for another helping of magnificent ceilings in St Ignatius...which, in my view, were far better than those in the Sistine chapel.