7 Things To Know Before Visiting The Pantheon in Rome — ALONG DUSTY ROADS

Dress & Act Appropriately

Given the importance of the Pantheon, and our experiences on many other Italian trips, it was a real shock to see how few people seemed to appreciate that this is still an active, important place of worship.

It wasn’t just the holiday attire, Instagram dresses, and preponderance of hats, but also the posing, the noise, and general lack of respect for place and people.

We don’t mean to sound curmudgeonly, but it pissed us off a lot and certainly tempered the faith and awe in humanity which the building inspired.

To be fair, we suspect a good amount of visitors may not have known that it was even a church, and the number of people in one space hardly encouraged decorum.

So, for the avoidance of doubt, one is not meant to enter the Pantheon unless dressed in a certain modest way. This is the same as the Vatican and many other Italian churches but, unlike them, we surprisingly didn’t actually see any enforcement of the dress code.

This is perhaps just another indication of how they have made too many sacrifices to tourism and permit too many people in there all at once, making it impossible to manage.

However, we’d feel great sympathy for any person visiting the Basilica as a pilgrim or to pray.

As you’re the best sort of traveller though, we know you’ll do it right. Here’s what you need to know:

· Appropriate modest clothing in this scenario means that shoulders and backs should be covered, and vests, sleeveless shirts, and shorts (above the knee) avoided by men and women; everyone should remove their hats on entry and within the church.

· Whilst making the most of your curiosity, try to keep voices low and act in the right way when taking photos + videos.

· If there are worshippers, give them space, priority, privacy, and peace.

· No food or drink is permitted inside.

· Another reason to not simply treat this as TikTok backdrop is that the Pantheon contains the tombs of Vittorio Emanuele II – the first king of a united Italy- King Umberto, Princess Margherita, and the Renaissance artist Raphael.

Travel Tip // Expectations on female travellers are more restrictive in religious buildings, and so it’s a good idea in Italy to keep a light scarf in your daypack so you can pop in to churches and cathedrals you spontaneously come across, without basing your entire outfit around their modesty requirements.