The Pantheon

In the Pantheon

Wednesday, November 8^th – Morning Walk to the Pantheon.  (Don here) After the previous evening’s venturing out in the city, we were feeling pretty confident in navigating to things we wanted to see. There were few street signs, but the streets are so varied, we were able to ‘pictorially’ follow our map (along with the use of a compass for double-checking).

High on my priority list was to see the Pantheon, which came recommended from a number of sources. It is a marvel of ancient engineering and construction.

The Pantheon was originally built in 27 BC as a temple to all gods, and later rebuilt around 120 AD. It has been in continuous since then. It is rather nondescript from the outside, as the dome is not predominant. Inside, the dome and overall ambience is compelling. The dome is 142 feet high from its base, and is also 142 feet wide at its base. It is made from concrete (remember, 120 AD), and the walls are 23 feet thick at the base, while near the top they are only five feet thick (and a less-dense concrete was used near the top). And the dome is built on top of the main structure. How did they know how thick to make it in 120 AD? 
 
It’s hard to choose which photos to use, but here is a representative sampling.

We understand this is very much a working church complete with services and weddings.

Over the years the Pantheon has been a pagan temple, a mosque and a Catholic Church

We both think that there is something about the size and symmetry that gives a person a 'feeling' when standing inside.

This is the center of the interior

Note that the lighting is all natural, through the hole at the top of the dome, which is 30 feet across. The floor has drainage holes for when it rains. A marvel of engineering and construction all around!

I had recorded a Rick Steve’s audio tour (and divided it into chapters), which Sami and I listened together (on separate headsets wired together, on my mp3 player), which helped us interpret everything we saw.