Pantheon
The Pantheon of Rome was initially a pagan place of worship. Then it
became a Christian church and a mausoleum for illustrious men.The
Pantheon is a masterpiece of engineering. The perfectly spherical space
gives a feeling of extraordinary harmony and balance, also thanks to the
light/shadow complex effects of niches and shrines. The wide round hall
at the back of the pronaos is unparalleled in the ancient world. The
merging of the classical style (the colonnade and the pronaos) and a
typical Roman building (the Rotonda) is a compromise between the Greek
architecture, which focused mainly on the exterior, and the Roman one,
focused on the interior space. The majestic pronao is decorated with 16
huge 13m high, grey and pink granite columns. The 6.2 m wide walls of
the rotunda are made with Roma bricks and the concrete dome is the
greatest masonry dome ever built.
The dome it is the first example of this kind of roof in a temple.
DID YOU KNOW...?
Michelangelo thought the Pantheon had been built by angels, not men.
The Romans nicknamed it the ‘Rotonna, meaning ‘The Round place’, and
this is where the opposite square takes the name from.
Visiting hours: Mon-Sat 8:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m.; Sun and holidays: 9:00 a.m.-
1:00 p.m.Some time restrictions may occur during church services.
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