The two-metre-deep sinkhole is the latest of many chasms suddenly appearing in the centre of the Italian capital over the years.
No one was hurt in the incident, as the normally packed square in front of the monument was empty due to the coronavirus lockdown.
Around 40 of the travertine marble cobblestones, called sanpietrini, gave way when the hole appeared in Piazza della Rotonda, between the fountain and the Pantheon itself.
“The area, fortunately closed, could have become a really dangerous trap for Romans and the thousands of tourists who on a beautiful day in the middle of spring, in a ‘normal’ period, would have filled it,” Italian daily La Stampa wrote.
