Jillian Chantal

Oculus is the Latin name for eye. Oculi is plural. An oculus today means a window. Usually round but they can be oval as well. The most famous of the oculi in the world would have to be the round skylight in the Pantheon in Rome. The Pantheon is a building erected many, many centuries ago as a building dedicated to all the gods and Gods.  Pan means all and theo means religions. 

I have been to the Pantheon and it is a magnificent building. It was not restored when I was there and according to my older son, it wasn’t much better when he went to Rome in 2004.  It’s an interesting piece of architecture. It has the huge skylight that fills the place with sunshine on nice days.  The oculus is open to the weather, so on rainy days, the rain pours in and rolls off the marble/granite floor. It has quite a few recessed areas where, in the long distant past, many statues of the various gods were placed.  The front door on the place is massive. Really, really massive.  Heck, the whole thing is massive, but the door is amazing!  Interestingly, the building looks square from the outside but it very rounded on the inside. And the carving work on the walls and the dome is impressive.

If you get a chance to go, do it. You’ll always remember it. I like to imagine how it would have looked in its prime. If your kid has the game Assassin’s Creed, there is a scene in the Pantheon and it looks very nice- nothing like reality, but a neatly imagined re-creation. 

Oculus- Pantheon

Pantheon - exterior