The Context: the Risorgimento and the Need for a National Symbol
The Italian Risorgimento (1815–1871) had been a long and complex process: a struggle for the political unification of a peninsula fragmented into a dozen states, driven by intellectuals, liberals and patriots of various persuasions. When the Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed in 1861, with Victor Emmanuel II of Savoy as its first king, an immediate problem arose: how to create a sense of shared national identity in a country that had never had a single central government?
The European nations of the 19th century had developed an arsenal of symbols, rituals and national monuments to build collective identity. France had its Parisian Panthéon, Westminster Abbey housed England's heroes, Germany had the Bavarian Walhalla. Italy had Rome — but Rome was also the seat of the papacy, at a time when relations between the Italian State and the Holy See were at their lowest ebb.
The «Roman Question» — the issue of the Papal States, absorbed into the Kingdom of Italy in 1870 with the capture of Rome — created a deep rift between the new secular state and the Vatican. Finding monuments and symbols that did not depend on the Church's blessing was a political priority.
The Choice of the Pantheon as the Royal Burial Site
The Pantheon was the ideal candidate for the role of secular national pantheon for a number of converging reasons:
Its antiquity: the Pantheon was the most intact ancient monument in Rome, built by Agrippa and rebuilt by Hadrian. To invoke the Pantheon was to invoke the entire greatness of the Roman Empire — a supremely powerful symbolic inheritance for a nation that defined itself as the restoration of Romanness.
Its relative neutrality: the Pantheon was indeed a Catholic church, but not one of the great papal basilicas. It was linked to Rome's most ancient history, predating the medieval papacy.
Raphael's precedent: the tomb of Raphael in the Pantheon had already transformed the building into a burial site for the greatnesses of the Italian nation. The kings were inserting themselves into this tradition.
Its geographical position: the Pantheon stood in the very heart of Rome's historic centre, the newly proclaimed capital.
Victor Emmanuel II: the First Royal Tomb (1878)
Victor Emmanuel II died in Rome on 9 January 1878, at just 57 years of age. He had been Italy's first king since 1861, but also King of Piedmont-Sardinia before unification. Under him and through Cavour, diplomacy had forged the alliances that made unification possible; under him and through Garibaldi, military campaigns had achieved territorial unification.
His sudden death struck the country deeply. The question of where to bury him was quickly settled: the Pantheon. It was the first time a king had been interred in the building.
Victor Emmanuel II's tomb occupies the chapel to the left of the high altar — the first chapel on the left as one enters. The sarcophagus is in red porphyry, a material traditionally reserved for imperial and royal burials. The choice of porphyry was an explicit symbolic statement: the king of Italy was positioning himself within the tradition of Roman emperors and medieval kings.
The funeral was celebrated with Catholic rites. Despite the tensions between State and Church (the papal non expedit, which discouraged Catholics from participation in the political life of the new State), the ceremony was managed so as not to exclude the religious dimension. The Pantheon, as an active church, permitted this dual character: a state funeral and a Catholic funeral at once.
The Vatican's Reaction and the Tensions
The relationship between the Vatican and the new Italian State was marked by a deep rupture. Pope Pius IX, who had lost the Papal States in 1870, had declared himself a «prisoner in the Vatican» and excommunicated those responsible for the capture of Rome. Leo XIII, who succeeded Pius IX in 1878 (shortly before Victor Emmanuel II's death), maintained the same stance of non-recognition of the new State.
The burial of a king — regarded by the Church as a usurper of the Pope's temporal sovereignty — in the Pantheon created an ambiguous situation. The Pantheon was canonically a consecrated Catholic church; its management lay in the hands of a rector appointed by the Church. To accept the king's burial was tantamount to a tacit acknowledgement of the legitimacy of the new State.
The Church's position was therefore one of calculated ambiguity: it did not openly oppose the burial, but neither did it celebrate it. The funerals were conducted with Catholic rites but without the explicit blessing of the Holy See.
Umberto I: the Second Royal Tomb (1900)
Umberto I, son of Victor Emmanuel II, was Italy's second king. He reigned from 1878 to 1900 and was a controversial monarch: his government was marked by social tensions, the repression of workers' protests (he ordered troops to fire on crowds in Milan in 1898, an order carried out by General Bava Beccaris), and colonial expansionism in Africa.
On 29 July 1900, Umberto I was assassinated in Monza by the anarchist Gaetano Bresci, who declared he was avenging the Milan massacre. The killing shocked Europe and opened the reign of his son Victor Emmanuel III.
The decision to bury Umberto I at the Pantheon was immediate and uncontested: the precedent set by Victor Emmanuel II had been established, and a discontinuity would have carried a negative symbolic meaning.
Umberto I's tomb stands in the corresponding chapel to the right of the high altar, symmetrical to his father's. His sarcophagus is also in red porphyry.
Queen Margherita of Savoy (1926)
Margherita of Savoy, wife of Umberto I and thus Queen of Italy, died in 1926. According to Italian tradition (and popular legend), the Margherita pizza was named in her honour in 1889 by a Neapolitan pizzaiolo who created a pizza in the colours of the Italian flag for the queen's visit to Naples.
Margherita was buried in the Pantheon beside her husband. Her tomb is within the same chapel as Umberto I.
Margherita's presence in the Pantheon carries further historical significance: she is the first Italian queen to be buried beside her sovereign husband in a civil monument, reflecting a different conception of the monarchy's role in national identity compared with the traditions of older European monarchies.
The Dual Use: Church and National Pantheon
The Pantheon of the 19th and 20th centuries operated on two simultaneous levels, often in tension:
As a Catholic church: it had a rector appointed by the Vicariate, a permanent clergy, and daily religious services. The faithful came to pray. Raphael's tomb had a frequently visited votive chapel. Weddings were celebrated inside.
As a secular national monument: the royal tombs were the object of patriotic pilgrimage. 9 January (the anniversary of Victor Emmanuel II's death) and 29 July (the anniversary of Umberto I's assassination) were dates of civic commemoration.
This tension was the Italian version of a more general problem: how modern nations use sacred spaces to construct secular identities. In France the problem was resolved radically with the deconsecration of the Paris Panthéon (a church transformed into a secular monument). In Italy the solution was more ambiguous: the Pantheon remained a church and also became a national pantheon, without either use being formally enshrined as predominant.
Changes after the Birth of the Republic (1946)
With the end of the monarchy in 1946 (the institutional referendum that chose the Republic) and the exile of the Savoyard family, the situation of the royal tombs at the Pantheon became a politically sensitive issue.
The Savoy family was excluded from Italy by the 1948 Constitution (Article XIII of the transitional provisions), which barred former kings of the House of Savoy and their male descendants from entering the territory of the Republic. This provision was repealed in 2002, and in 2003 Umberto II's son, Victor Emmanuel of Savoy, visited the Pantheon and his ancestors' tombs for the first time.
During the post-war decades, the royal tombs attracted political controversy. Some left-wing voices demanded their removal, viewing them as symbols of a monarchy discredited by its connivance with fascism. Others argued that the tombs had by now become part of the monument's history and could not be removed without distorting it.
The tombs remain in place. Their presence is accepted today without significant controversy, even though the monument was never formally recast as the national pantheon of the Republic.
The Pantheon and Italian Identity Today
Republican Italy has built its national identity around symbols different from monarchical ones: the Constitution, the Resistance, labour. The most important site of civic commemoration in the new Italy is not the Pantheon but the Unknown Soldier at the Altare della Patria, inaugurated in 1921 and the centre of republican national identity rituals.
The Pantheon today is above all an ancient monument, an architecturally extraordinary work, and an active Catholic church. The royal tombs have become one layer among many in its stratified history.
Visiting the Pantheon in 2023 is a multi-layered experience: one sees a 2nd-century Roman building, converted into a church in 609, which housed Raphael's tomb in 1520, was used as a national pantheon in the 19th century, and is today still a functioning church and a UNESCO site visited by millions each year.
Where to Find the Tombs Today
The two royal chapels stand on either side of the high altar, in the rear wall of the rotunda:
- Left chapel (as you enter): tomb of Victor Emmanuel II, with a red porphyry sarcophagus and commemorative inscription.
- Right chapel (as you enter): tomb of Umberto I and Queen Margherita, with sarcophagi side by side.
The chapels are visible on the normal visitor route. Entry into the chapels themselves is not permitted.
Visit the Pantheon with a Private Driver
The Pantheon is fully within the limited traffic zone in Rome's historic centre. Private car access to Piazza della Rotonda is not possible.
Visit the Pantheon with a private driver: direct, comfortable arrival with no traffic or parking concerns. Service from €49. → Book your driver at myromedriver.com
Frequently Asked Questions
How many Italian kings are buried in the Pantheon? Two: Victor Emmanuel II (died 1878, Italy's first king) and Umberto I (assassinated 1900). Queen Margherita of Savoy, wife of Umberto I, is buried in the same chapel as her husband. Victor Emmanuel III and subsequent kings are not buried at the Pantheon.
Why are not all Italian kings buried at the Pantheon? Victor Emmanuel III (died in exile in 1947) was buried in Egypt; his remains returned to Italy only in 2017 and were interred in the family tomb at Vicoforte (Cuneo), not at the Pantheon. Umberto II (died in exile in 1983) is buried at Hautecombe, France.
Is the Pantheon still a site of monarchical commemoration? Yes, informally. Monarchist associations and supporters of the Savoy cause organise commemorative ceremonies at the Pantheon on the anniversary dates of the kings. The Italian Republic holds no official ceremonies at the Pantheon in their honour.
Can the royal tombs be visited freely? Yes, as part of the normal Pantheon visit. The chapels are visible but not accessible from the inside. Admission to the Pantheon is charged (€5 since July 2023).
Is there a conflict between the church function and the monument with royal tombs? The historical conflict exists but is muted today. The Pantheon is formally a Catholic church; the royal burials were accepted with ambiguity at the time of their installation. The cohabitation is now peaceful and forms part of the monument's multi-layered identity.
Article no. 65 — TIER S — MON-04 Pantheon Type: HISTORY Words: ~2,400