025.

Piazza della Rotonda

The Pantheon (1), the best preserved ancient building in the city, dominates this view as it dominates the piazza to this day. Built by Hadrian (117-138 AD) in place of the temple dedicated to all the gods begun by Agrippa in the late 1st century BC, it was transformed into the church of S. Maria ad Martyres in 609, later known as S. Maria della Rotonda. The twin towers added by Maderna in the early 17th century were removed in the late 19th century as was the building attached to the temple on the left. Simultaneously the street on the right was widened at the expense of a slice of Palazzo Crescenzi (3). Vasi exaggerates the distance of the fountain (2) from the Pantheon, which masks its off-center relationship with its axis (see Nolli map). The fountain basin is by Della Porta (1575), while the obelisk was added at the time of Clement XI (1700-21) as the Albani coat of arms on its base indicates. This obelisk formerly stood in the nearby Piazza S. Macuto, Plate 165 as revealed by the 1676 Falda map.