ITALY: Rome's Pantheon

The Pantheon is my favourite building in Rome. I think it is because it is so well preserved.

The exterior does not get me excited in a city of magnificent old buildings. But the interior is fascinating. 

Roman legend has it that the original Pantheon was dedicated to Romulus, their mythological founder, after he ascended to heaven from that site.

 

 

The Pantheon is one of the best-preserved monuments of ancient Rome. The structure, completed around 126-128 A.D. during the reign of Emperor Hadrian, features a rotunda with a massive domed ceiling that was the largest of its kind when it was built. 

It is fascinating because it stands as a testament to the genius and skill of the Roman people. It is an innovative combination of both Greek and Roman style. 

It has survived over the millenniums because it has been adapted to different religious. At first dedicated to Roman Gods, it was then converted to the Catholic religion, which is why it has been kept remarkably well-preserved. 

To this day it still conducts Catholic services.

The engineering feat is amazing. The Pantheon dome remains the single largest, unreinforced concrete dome in the entire world. At about 142 feet in diameter, the Pantheon’s dome is bigger even than the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica.

At the highest point, the oculus – the nine-metre-wide circular hole in the roof – actually saves crucial weight at the dome's most vulnerable point. It's also exactly as high as it is wide, meaning that the interior of the Pantheon perfectly fits a 43.3m-diameter sphere.

The dome is also completely unreinforced. Almost two thousand years after it was built, the Pantheon's dome is still the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome. 

 

The dome is open to the elements which means when it rains outside, it rains inside the Pantheon. But a gently sloping floor and 22 well-hidden holes help the water to drain away. The marble floor, which features a design consisting of a series of geometric patterns, is still the ancient Roman original. I find that astounding.

 

There are no windows inside the large oculus. And none in the entire building. All the light comes from the oculus at the top of the dome, and the door when it is open.

The Pantheon now contains the tombs of the famous artist Raphael and of several Italian Kings and poets. 

Also among those buried in its necropolis are Voltaire, Rousseau, Victor Hugo, Émile Zola, Jean Moulin, Louis Braille, Jean Jaurès and Soufflot, its architect.

It is one of my highlights of visiting Rome because it is so well preserved. It astounds me that what I am looking at is basically what ancient Romans looked at almost 2,000 years ago.