The Pantheon is, by far, ancient Rome's best preserved building. It's a mathematical stunner, given how exacting it is. It is still the world's largest concrete dome. And, it is the only ancient building in Rome in continuous use since it was built.
The Pantheon is a temple that was dedicated to all (pan) of the gods (theos). The original temple was built in 27 BC by Marcus Agrippa. The inscription above the columns in front of the building proclaims "Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucio, three times consul, made this."
I don't really know what that means. I don't think Agrippa personally built this. I have to believe that was done by a lot of people, including many slaves. Did he design it? No idea. Did he come up with the idea and requisitioned the money? More probable.
This I do know. Agrippa was famously short-tempered. One day, things weren't going well on the job site, and he just totally lost his cool. Screaming, yelling, throwing things, killing slaves.
His foreman couldn't take it any more, and yelled is his Italian-influenced Latin, "Marcus, get a grippa!"
And that's how the phrase "get a grip" came to be.
I'm here all week.
The original temple was built in 27 BC by Agrippa, but destroyed by fire in 80 AD. Then in 110 AD, Emperor Domitian had it rebuilt, but it burned again. Those never say die Romans rebuilt it again from 118-125 AD, under the leadership of Emperor Hadrian. (Earlier in the blog I might have said it was built in 80 AD, so my apologies).
Then in 608 AD, Pope Boniface IV ("Boney-face" to his friends and cardinals) converted it into a Christian Church. (You don't hear of boys being named "Boniface" anymore. I wonder why.)
In 1747 the dome was struck by lightning, causing considerable interior damage.
And, in 1990, it, along with much of Central Rome, was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. As faithful readers of the blog know, I'm on a crusade to have their slogan be "UNESCO Means You Must Go" because nearly every UNESCO site we've been to is jaw-dropping or awe-inspiring, or both.
Showing the limits of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Google's AI claims that the Pantheon was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1965, when the dozen UNESCO sites weren't designated until 1978. AI better not stick one of its hands into the Mouth of Truth or la Bocca della Verita will bite it right off.
The Pantheon's dome is shallow and hard to see from the outside (from higher vantage points like Sant Angelo or the King Vittorio Emmanuel II monument it's easier to see). But it was the model for the domes of Florence and St. Peter's. Even the U.S. Capitol building was inspired by this dome.
I wrote more about the 16 one piece columns in the photo section below here -- not only are they 40 feet tall, but they are 15 feet around. The most amazing part of the columns is that most ancient columns are stacked up stones cut and pieced together, the columns are a single piece of stone.
The dome is a wonder of the ancients -- it is as high as it is wide. . .142 feet. Concrete was invented by the Romans, and there is nothing better made of concrete than the dome. The base of the dome is 23 feet thick and includes travertine marble mixed in (heavier), while at the top it's less than five feet thick and made with lighter pumice (volcanic rock) mixed in.
The square indentations in the underneath part of the dome (see pics) means it is a "coffered ceiling" (I believe that Starbucks gets a cut of all things involving coffee), and thus it reduces the weight of the dome without reducing strength.
Then, of course, the eye is drawn to the oculus, which is the building's only light source. It is perfectly circular and is nearly 30 feet across. The floor is 80% original, and thus over 1,800 years old.
Since rain comes through the oculus, the floor has drain holes in it and slants to the edge. We had a very light rain when we were inside, and it felt miraculous to be raining lightly indoors. I could be wrong, but I think it would be cool to be inside when there is a pounding rain.
(Carol just interjected in her mind -- "Glen, you're wrong a lot, so you probably are about this as well!").
Alas, because it was a cloudy day, we didn't get to marvel at the 142 foot column of sunlight coming into the building through the oculus.
The niches along the walls had various Roman gods, including a huge statue of Jupiter, the King of the Gods. These days, the niches hold Christian images.
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