If You Could Only Go To One, Would It Be The Colosseum Or The Pantheon?

I don't know which one I would choose, because it's not an easy decision. 

Anyhow, here's photos from the Pantheon tour, and more. . .

One late afternoon at the Pantheon.

From the floor to the oculus.

These are the original bronze doors of

the Pantheon.  Each door weighs about

20 tons each ("tonnes" for my British

readers).  They are nearly 25 feet high

and 14.6 feet wide.  It's not just the dome,

or the building that I'm in awe of.

These columns are solid pieces of granite

that came from quarries in Egypt.  They

weight around 60 tons each!  Imagine

being in charge of getting them from the

quarry in Egypt to Rome.  I can't.

There's a reason I drive a desk.

There are many stories about the

columns, and it's hard to know which

is truthful.  One is that two of the columns

were stolen.  (How do you steal 60 ton

columns?)

Another is that three were switched

out when they were damaged in the

1600s.

How did any of this happen?  I think

Romans didn't really pay attention, so

the columns were taken for granite.

(say it out loud to yourself --  it's

funnier that way. . ."taken for

granite" -- get it?)

The doors are apparently open

10 hours a day/365 days.  The

line is much shorter in November.

Oh, and get your tickets in advance.

The dome is the largest concrete dome in

the world, and was the largest dome for

over 1300 years, until the famous dome

in Florence was built.   

The walls of the Pantheon are seven yards

thick.  That's more yards than the New

York football Giants have gained in any

first half of this season.*

* Any Giants stats are for impact only,

do not gamble based on those stats.

Part of the altar.

The burial place of King Vittorio

Emanuele II, the first king of

the modern unified Italy.  He

and his son (King Umberto I) are

the only two kings buried here.

Six people total are buried here, 

including famed Renaissance

artist Raphael.

The oculus is really eye-catching.

Okay, so the next two photos aren't from the Pantheon, but quite near it.

A fountain in Piazza Navona actually

being worked on, he writes bitterly.

The undulating Rococo facade

of Chiesa di Santa Maria

Maddalena.  I'd show you

pictures of the Baroque 

interior, but it was closed. . .

for renovation, of course!