Entrance to Roman Pantheon to cost EUR 2

The entrance to Rome's Pantheon, one of the best preserved ancient cultural monuments, will no longer be free beginning with May 2018, the Italian Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced and added that people attending religious services would still be able to enter for free.

Now a Christian church, formerly a Roman temple, it was visited by 7.4 million people last year. The entrance will cost EUR 2 per person, the ministry says and adds that there will be no tourist visits during religious ceremonies.

Part of the proceeds from the tickets will be used to maintain the location, in which Marcus Agrippa had the temple built during the reign of Emperor Augustus, around 27 B.C.

The current shape of the Pantheon and its six-meter-thick walls date back from the early period of the reign of Emperor's Hadrian, who assumed power in 117. The edifice survived the barbarian attacks on Rome and was turned into a Christian church in 609.

The tombs of the renaissance artists Raphael and two Italian kings are located inside the Pantheon.

Pantheon

Roman Pantheon

Pantheon entrance

Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa