Rome mayor paid tribute to Ennio Morricone at Pantheon.

Rome illuminated the Pantheon with a new lighting system on the evening of 10 July in a ceremony attended by the city's mayor Virginia Raggi.

During the inauguration the mayor paid tribute to the late Italian composer Ennio Morricone, who died in Rome this week, with the maestro's music played by the Orchestra of the Accademia Nazionale di S. Cecilia and the local police band.

Raggi also confirmed during the ceremony that the Auditorium Parco della Musica will be named after Morricone, following a motion brought forward by the city council within hours of the maestro's death.

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Raggi said the 150 warm LED lights will "enhance, even at night, the grandeur and charm of one of Rome's symbolic monuments" in a "symbol of rebirth" after the covid-19 lockdown.The mayor said that the illumination of the Pantheon would serve to relaunch the city's tourism sector "in this delicate phase."

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The Pantheon is the latest in a series of Roman landmarks to be illuminated by the capital's energy provider ACEA, from the Trevi Fountain to the Basilica di S. Maria in Trastevere.

Photo credit: Ufficio Stampa Roma Capitale