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Coming
from the term that means “a gathering of gods”,
this building was a temple dedicated to not one god, but
an entire host of ancient Roman deities. Remarkably well
preserved, it is made mainly of brick with a great hemispherical
dome, its supporting walls set in concrete. A vast building,
it was a place for Romans to come and worship all of their
gods at once instead of having to visit many other shrines
located in various other places. On the architectural
level the main focus of the building is the central dome.
While not exceedingly large by today’s standards
(although it is still one of the bigger domes of its type)
it was absolutely huge when it was built; it is also amazing
because it was constructed in a time that was well before
modern construction techniques were available (like electricity
and hydraulics for example). |
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The
interior volume is a cylinder above which rises the hemispherical
dome. Opposite the door is a recessed semicircular apse,
and on each side are three additional recesses, alternately
rectangular and semicircular, separated from the space
under the dome by paired monolithic columns. The only
natural light enters through an unglazed oculus at the
centre of the dome and through the bronze doors to the
portico. The Pantheon at Rome was built by Agrippa in
27 BC, destroyed, and rebuilt by Hadrian (the man who
built the wall across Scotland). In 609 it was converted
into a Christian church consecrated to Santa Maria dei
Martiri. The term “Pantheon” is now applied
to a monument in which illustrious dead are buried. |
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