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The original Pantheon was built by Marcus Agrippa in 27 B.C. - the inscription on the front outside still says: M.AGRIPPA.L.F.COS.TERTIUM.FECIT which means "Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, who has been consul three times, built this". Modern archaeological research has shown that the Pantheon now standing here is not the one Agrippa built - instead it was erected sometime after 110 A.D. after the original had been destroyed by fire in 80 A.D. (it was first rebuilt by Domitian after the fire, but that one also burned down). Earlier historians thought this done by Hadrian, but new research could indicate it was actually done already by Trajan, and his architect Apollodorus of Damascus, and then finished by Hadrian. The actual function of the building in ancient times is not known.
In 609 the Pantheon was consecrated to be a church by Pope Boniface IV, and it still is a church, called Sancta Maria ad Martyres (now Santa Maria dei Martiri, and informally known as Santa Maria Rotonda). Since the Renaissance it has been used as a burial place and here two of Italy's kings are buried: Vittorio Emanuele II and Umberto I.
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