Yes, on the first Sunday of every month, for all visitors. There’s no online booking for it, everyone queues on-site to collect a non-nominal free ticket, per the Direzione Musei nazionali.
To visit the Pantheon, Since 3 July 2023, every visitor needs a paid, named ticket, full price €7 as of 1 July 2026, up from €5, per the Ministry of Culture’s Direzione Musei nazionali della città di Roma. Free entry hasn’t disappeared entirely: it still applies to Rome residents, everyone under 18, and any visitor on the first Sunday of the month.
Before July 2023: Free, Walk-In Entry
For most of its history as a tourist site, the Pantheon worked like any open church, walk in, no ticket, no time slot, no name attached to the visit. That’s still how many people remember it, including anyone who visited before mid-2023 or read an older guidebook.
Since July 2023: A Paid, Named Ticket, Now €7
An agreement between the Ministry of Culture and the Chapter of the Basilica of Santa Maria ad Martyres-Pantheon made a ticket mandatory from 3 July 2023, the basilica’s own site confirms. The full price held at €5 for three years; a separate agreement between the Ministry and the Diocese of Rome, signed 10 April 2026, raised it to €7 from 1 July 2026. Every ticket is nominal, the name on it must match a photo ID at the door, alone or in a group.
Why People Still Think It’s Free
The Pantheon operates in two capacities at once, and that’s the actual source of the confusion. As the Basilica of Santa Maria ad Martyres, it’s a working Catholic church entrance is free during Mass, held Saturday evenings and Sunday mornings, for anyone attending to worship. As a monument, it’s ticketed the rest of the time. “It’s a church, churches are free” is true for part of the week and not the rest of it.
How to Get Your Ticket
Tickets are sold only through the Ministry’s Musei Italiani platform, its app, or on-site ticket offices and vending machines, not through unauthorized resellers, which can mean denied entry even with a valid-looking ticket. Book with the exact name and surname of each visitor; the ticket isn’t transferable at the door. The monthly calendar releases roughly two weeks before the previous month ends, so popular slots can fill before you’ve planned your trip. The exception is the first Sunday of the month: no online booking exists for that free entry, and every visitor queues on-site for a non-nominal free ticket instead.
The Best Way to Visit the Pantheon
Buying your own ticket works well if you’re comfortable registering an account, entering each name exactly as it appears on ID, and committing to a fixed time slot. It means paying only the government-set entrance fee, nothing else.
A guided visit doesn’t get you around the line, Italian ticketing rules rule out skip-the-line entry outright, for individuals and guided groups alike. What changes is who manages the paperwork: the operator books the named, timed tickets and matches each one to the right traveler beforehand, which is also why an operator asks for everyone’s name up front rather than at the gate. Only a licensed guide may give commentary inside the monument, which is why a guided visit adds the tour’s own cost on top of the entrance fee rather than replacing it.
Crown Tours’ guides, who lead groups through regularly, have found the entrance noticeably better controlled since ticketing began. The line outside can look intimidating, but it’s a security check, not a ticket wait, and it clears faster than the length suggests. https://www.crowntours.com/rome/pantheon-tours
Either way, dress for a church, shoulders covered, nothing cut too short since the Pantheon functions as a Basilica regardless of which ticket you’re holding.
FAQ
Not strictly, ticket offices and vending machines exist on-site, but the monthly calendar can sell out for popular dates and times, so booking ahead removes that risk.
No. The standard ticket covers entry only. A licensed guide is admitted free, but that exemption is for the guide, not the group, every traveler still needs their own named ticket.
Entry is denied with no refund, since tickets are nominal. One name change is allowed online via Musei Italiani, but the deadline tightened in 2026, check the current cutoff before your visit.
No. Official policy rules out skip-the-line entry for individuals and guided groups alike. A guide can handle registration and timing for you, but the security check applies to everyone.
Sources
- Direzione Musei nazionali della città di Roma (Ministry of Culture), “Pantheon – Pantheon e Castel Sant’Angelo,” accessed 31 August 2026.
- Basilica of Santa Maria ad Martyres / Pantheon Rome (official basilica site), “Opening hours and useful information for visiting the Pantheon of Rome,” accessed 31 August 2026.
- Basilica of Santa Maria ad Martyres / Pantheon Rome (official basilica site), “From July 3, the visit to the Pantheon will be paid for,” 8 June 2023. Published 31 August 2026. Last verified 31 August 2026. Sepehr K. Yekta, Customer Experience Team, Crown Tours
