Last month was announcement that visitors wishing to enter Rome’s Pantheon – that remarkable and iconic survivor of the ancient city – will now have to pay a €5 (~$5.5) entrance fee. A similar initiative to charge €2 (~$2.2) was rejected in 2018, but that’s inflation, I guess. This is an unnecessary and unwelcome plan that further undermines Rome’s vaunted claim as an open-air museum.
The Pantheon is a marvel of Roman engineering and its fame is justified. While most of the city’s ancient monuments are in a semi-ruined state, the Pantheon rebuilt by Emperors Trajan and Hadrian in the early 2nd century is largely intact. Its ornamentation has been repaired and changed over the centuries, but it is one of the few buildings from Roman times where perhaps, for a moment, you can have a sensory experience similar to those who inhabited Rome. two millennia ago.
The surprise felt when first entering the Pantheon is voluntary. Its distinctive circular design was not meant to be visible from the outside, so visitors approach what appears to be a regular facade only to be rewarded with the vast vaulted space once inside. The concentric rings of square coffers in the geometrically perfect dome draw the eye to the open hole in the center, drawing you in and causing an unforgettable experience.
However, the pleasure of visiting the Pantheon has diminished in recent years. It was once possible to walk freely between the towering 40-foot granite columns of the porch in the remarkable interior, but not anymore. On most days, a queue winds its way around and often past the crowded square in front of the monument. A semi-curious person can’t just “jump” for a quick look. Blue ribbon barriers enclose most of the porch to channel visitors along a single route (going to the Pantheon at night is now the only opportunity to explore the colonnade at leisure).
Once inside, you can no longer walk around at will; instead, the same blue band channels everyone on a circuit around the perimeter. The most unfortunate consequence of this is that it is now impossible to stand in the center of the ground directly under the open hole in the dome and immediately look up at the sky (nor incidentally notice the small holes in the marble paving afterwards by your feet that allow rainwater to flow).
These conditions predate the introduction of an entry fee, but the proposal to do so risks making them worse. Bottlenecks and the imposition of more man-made structures can be expected to guide visitors around the building – the predetermined route and blue stripe are likely to remain. Also, what’s the excuse for charging people for something that used to be free? By “before”, I mean 1,900 years!
Undeniably, funds are needed to maintain Rome’s architectural heritage and some of these costs could reasonably fall on visitors to the city (residents will be exempt from paying the entrance fee). The exact amount that will be raised by the new plan is unclear, as is the amount that will be reinvested in the maintenance of the Pantheon. Gate receipts will be split between the Ministry of Culture and the Diocese of Rome (the ecclesiastical district controlled by the Pope) by 70/30. But only the ministry should be responsible for the upkeep of the building, with the diocese’s share going to the upkeep of other churches in the area and undefined “charitable and cultural activities”.
The involvement of the diocese highlights an important consideration: the Pantheon is a church. It was the first former shrine in the city to be converted for Christian use and religious services are still held there today (worshippers will also still be allowed free entry). While most ancient sites and museums in Rome charge visitors, traditionally there are no entrance fees for churches, so why choose the Pantheon?
Rome is full of churches of historical and architectural significance designed by the great architects of their time: Donato Bramante, Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Francesco Borromini to name just three. Many churches contain artistic masterpieces by Michelangelo and Caravaggio. Wonderfully, they are all free to visit. Even St. Peter’s Basilica, the largest and most important church in Catholic Christendom, is free!
So why charge an entrance fee to enter the Church of Santa Maria and the Martyrs, aka the Pantheon? Gennaro Sangiuliano, Italian Minister of Culture affirmed that it is a “common sense ” (common sense) decision to charge for the most visited cultural site in Italy. From this statement, one cannot help but conclude that it is the high foot traffic of the Pantheon that apparently warrants compensation. This is not because of an improved experience for visitors or because the structure needs extraordinary work, but rather because officials noticed the winding line of tourists waiting to enter and thought that an opportunity to make money was missed.
If so, it is a cynical decision that sets a disturbing precedent. How long before the same justification is made for charging admission to other churches in Rome that are historically significant or just popular with tourists?
In a previous statement, Sangiuliano seemed to circumvent this issue by linking the decision to the fact that France also charges tourists to visit Napoleon’s tomb, that in England you pay to enter Westminster Abbey where various members of the royal family are buried, and in Denmark there is a fee to see where the kings rested in Roskilde Cathedral. Similar to these sites, the Pantheon is where Italy’s first two monarchs are buried. But from the nine million visitors on the site in 2019, I can’t imagine most knew who Vittorio Emanuele II And Umberto I were, not to mention the fact that they entered the monument specifically to view the resting place of the short-lived and now defunct Savoia dynasty.
The comparison with other cities as justification for the decision is at best a red herring and at worst dishonest (Westminster Abbey might charge, but unlike museums across Italy, major museums in London don’t not). Rome is Rome, why does it matter what happens elsewhere?
If the Ministry of Culture and the Diocese of Rome are to continue down the path of paying entry, there is an alternative to simply charging people to walk around the Pantheon. The problems described above are the result of too many visitors and unnecessarily large tour groups. One solution is to introduce timed entry tickets to the Pantheon, limit group sizes to a maximum of 25 people per guide, and remove blue-ribbon barriers. Give people the freedom to roam the space without being overcrowded and without queuing.
Even better, to justify the €5 fee, the authorities should consider creating a small museum inside the monument. There is a series of ancient rooms at the rear of the Pantheon, the so-called grottoni. These are normally empty and inaccessible to the public but are sometimes used to hold temporary exhibitions. This space could be transformed into a permanent installation on the history and architecture of the building.
Just because people are going to pay for something doesn’t mean charging for it is a good idea. Historians, art historians, archaeologists and others will gladly shell out €5 to see one of the most remarkable buildings of antiquity, as will the millions of tourists whose entrance fee is included in the overall cost of their vacation package. The loser will be the occasional visitor; the tourist who is told it’s worth a visit but who doesn’t know if it really is and chooses not to enter — after all, €5 buys a cheap glass of wine or some ice cream. Keeping the Pantheon free would encourage everyone to visit it.
