La Chambre Des Reines
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The Pantheon in Rome - details -
Although in reality it was Hadrian and not Agrippa who built
the Pantheon we know today, the text of the original inscription, which was added
to the new facade, of the totally reconstructed Pantheon 125 AD by
emperor Hadrian, a common practice in his
rebuilding projects all over Rome, is as follows: standing for Marcus Agrippa, Lucii filius, consul tertium fecit meaning, Made by Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, consul for the third time
The dome (click on picture to see more of the inside dome) The dome is constructed of stepped rings of solid concrete with less and less density as lighter aggregate (pumice) is used, diminishing in thickness to about 1.2 m (4 feet) at the edge of the oculus. The dome rests on a cylinder of masonry walls 6 m (20 feet). Hidden voids and the interior recesses hollow out this construction, so that it works less as a solid mass and more like three continuous arcades which correspond to the three tiers of relieving arches visible on the building exterior. Originally, these exterior walls were faced with colored marbles. The dome of the Pantheon is slightly larger than that at St. Peter's. The interior is lined with lush marble and almost entirely intact in it's original form except for the statues of Roman Gods that used to line the alcoves.
The Oculus (click on picture to see more of the oculus) The oculus, the only source of natural light in the Pantheon, is a round opening in the center of the dome. It is around 30 feet ( 9 meter) in diameter and opens to the sky (the floor is gently sloped to allow for runoff of rainwater). The oculus in the ceiling serves as a mirror of the round heaven – appropriately open to the sky - and its graduated ribbed ceiling coffers immediately below corresponded to the five planetary gods. Rain and snow occasionally fall through it, but the floor is slanted and drains cleverly remove the water if it manages to hit the floor. The space between roof and marble floor is a perfect 44 meter which is around 150 ft. Hadrian wrote about the Pantheon he had reconstructed: "My intentions had been that this sanctuary of All Gods should reproduce the likeness of the terrestrial globe and of the stellar sphere. The cupola revealed the sky through a great hole at the center, showing alternately dark and blue. This temple, both open and mysteriously enclosed, was conceived as a solar quadrant. The hours would make their round on that caissoned ceiling so carefully polished by Greek artisans; the disk of daylight would rest suspended there like a shield of gold; rain would form its clear pool on the pavement below, prayers would rise like smoke toward that void where we place the Gods". In her Memoirs of Hadrian, Marguerite Yourcenar wrote: "This open and secret temple, conceived as a sundial. The hours were to circle the center of its carefully polished pavement where the disk of the day was supposed to rest like a golden buckler; there the rain would make a limpid pool from which prayer could transpire like smoke toward the void where we place the gods." Meaning: the hole in the ceiling performs like a sundial to mark the passing of the hours and the dates of equinox and solstice and it symbolizes a union between earth and sky. As we had rent an apartment with view on the Pantheon, in autumn 2007, we could return at different times of day, to watch a white or a golden light pounce on the floor or walls, or simply to observe dark clouds moving across the oculus. We also came back in a light rain and experienced the phenomenon of rain in the temple. We searched for the drainholes, integrated ingeniously into the pattern of the floor, and watched the water as it was carried away into drain channels made in 27 B.C. by Agrippa......
The bronze doors: (click on picture to enlarge) The massive bronze doors (which are original and were once covered in gold) are technically original, but were so extensively renovated under Pius IV (1553) they have been practically recast. The bronze doors leading into the building weigh 20 tons each and are also still on their original hinges. Two significant events helped the preservation of the Pantheon. Its convertion into a church in 609 - the first temple in Rome to do so, and in 734 pope Gregory III lined the roof with bronze (again) thus helping preserve it. In 667 the Byzantine Emperor Constans II raided the Pantheon and the golden roof tiles, the bronze lining the building, along with all the other bronze he could find in Rome, was stolen to be melted down for coins in Constantinople. Normally though, the Popes and authorities took greater care of S Maria ad Martyres....but in 1623 the famous sculptor Bernini pillaged the (new) bronze from the roof, with permission of Pope Urban VIII, to make the baldacchino at St Peter's. See picture As the bronze was taken from the ceiling of the "Pantheon's portico, Pasquino, a Roman satirical figure, issued the following mot: "Quod non fecerunt barbari, fecerunt Barberini" meaning: "What the barbarians did not do, the Barberinis did", Barberini being Urban VIII's family. Till today the Pantheon is still an active church. The "Historic Centre of Rome," with specific mention of the Pantheon, was designated a World Heritage Site in 1980.
For a fantastic panoramic view of the interior of the Pantheon: (click on "click to play", then on "full screen", then play with all the arrows. Press the "esc" button on your keyboard to return to reality) To start the panoramic view For a panoramic view of the Pantheon outside (follow the above instructions) And for more material that takes your breath away (follow the above instructions)
Sources: Stanford university, Wikipedia,
Sacred Destinations,
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