We are almost there! On 6-7-8 April, every year, at 1:00 pm you will see the extraordinary lilluminaions of the Pantheon: the Arc and the Square of Light that we discovered in 2014.

Every day at noon the Sun enters the oculus of the dome and creates a circle of light in the direction of the portal, which has a different height according to the seasons. (in summer with daylight saving time it shows at 1:00 pm)

Every year, only in the days of April 6-7-8 and of September 4-5-6, the Sun creates a spectacular Arc of Light: it perfectly overlaps the masonry arch above the portal, which has a particular shape, Horseshoe.

This happens because the oculus has a diameter of 9 meters and the masonry arch has the same width: 9 meters, and it is located about 35 meters below the oculus.
A special illumination created 1900 years ago without the aid of computers!

In those same days you can also see the Square of Light, equally spectacular. The circle of light is cut by the portal threshold and becomes a Square.
It illuminates the floor outside, in front of the portal, and coincides perfectly with a marble square in the center of which a circle is inserted.

The Light was like a theatrical spotlight that illuminated the emperor when he made his solemn entrance into the Pantheon: a divine Light, a sign of the favorable presence of the divinity.

These illuminations had a precise symbolic meaning that we understood thanks to Archaeoastronomy.

In the ancient Roman calendar, April 6 was the feast of the goddess Diana, April 7 was dedicated to Apollo and in those same days the Ludi Megalenses were celebrated, dedicated to the goddess Cybele, mother of all gods.
In September there were instead the Ludi Roman dedicated to Jupiter Optimus Maximus.

This and much more is explained in detail in our book "Pantheon. Architecture and Light", published by Rirella Editrice.

‼️ Light is Magic!