Pantheon

Rom · Italy · Church

The hole in the dome was torn open by demons fleeing the consecration — and at dawn King Umberto I is seen at his own tomb.

When Pope Boniface IV consecrated the pagan temple as a church in 609 and had the bones of martyrs brought here, the old gods are said to have fled in panic: they crowded upward against the vault and tore open the hole in the dome to escape. Romans called them the seven demons, and it was long said that rain never falls straight through the opening because they still press up from below. The building gained a second ghost story in 1900, when the murdered King Umberto I was entombed in the right-hand niche. Since then people speak of a uniformed figure standing at the tomb or on the square outside in the first hours of morning, vanishing as the church doors are opened.

FAQ

Where is Pantheon located?

Pantheon is in Rom, Italy.