A - 13 : Who blew up the Pantheon?

The Pantheon today - Most People believe it decayed over the last 2'000 years

We are not going to sail to Athens on our journey but you will cross the town when landing in Greece. Few people know that the marvellous Pantheon was destroyed in the sixth Ottoman - Venetian War in 1687.

Venetian Mortars bombarding the Pantheon on the 26 September 1687

Due to its conversion to first a church and in 1450 to a mosque, the Pantheon had actually survived the ages well and was in good condition. Until the Turks decided to used it as a power magazine during the siege of Athens in the sixth Ottoman - Venetian War from 1684 to 1699. During this conflict Venice reconquered many of the cities in the Peloppones which two hundred years earlier were its colonies such as Koroni, Methoni or Nauplion\

The Siege of the Pantheon in 1687 - Venetian Ships are in the foreground landing troops

A “lucky” shot by one of the Venetian mortars hit the Pantheon right in the middle and blew the “temporary” powder magazine - needless to say that the Turks withdrew from Athens as a consequence – the Pantheon was never rebuilt to its former glory but stayed the ruin we admire today.