"Temple of All Gods" The Pantheon is a miracle of the building genius of Ancient Rome. This is the only pagan temple that was not rebuilt or destroyed in subsequent eras.
The first temple on this site was erected in 27 AD by Mark Vipsanius Agrippa, a contemporary of Octavian Augustus. The inscription above the entrance has survived, but the building itself was completely rebuilt in 125 by order of Emperor Hadrian. It is assumed that the creator of the new structure was Apollodorus of Damascus. This is a brilliant architect, designer and sculptor, the favorite of Emperor Trajan. According to other sources, under Hadrian, Apollodorus of Damascus fell out of favor and was executed.
Architecture is a very vivid expression of state ideas. At the beginning of the II century, under the emperors Trajan and Hadrian, the Roman Empire reached the pinnacle of its power and greatness. The Pantheon is the epitome of a thriving and wealthy empire. This is the pinnacle of the architectural skill of the people, for whom practical activity was the highest valor. Roman scientific thought was of a compilation nature, but collecting and generalizing the achievements of many peoples of antiquity, the Romans selected only what met their needs.
You can enter the temple only through the monumental portico. The combination of a circular composition and a longitudinal axis is a feature of the Roman centric temples, which found its highest expression in the Pantheon. Closed structures are generally characteristic of ancient Roman architecture.
The beauty of the Pantheon is in the combination of simple shapes. Rotunda - cylinder, dome - hemisphere, portico - parallelepiped. Of course, the art of Rome of the imperial time, imbued with a heroic spirit, still amazes with its scope and splendor, but looking at the Pantheon one can not recall the distinctive features of the buildings of Rome during the republican period - strength, laconicism and simplicity of artistic forms.
In order to reduce the feeling of monotony and heaviness, the wall of the rotunda is divided horizontally into three parts by belts. The portico is decorated with columns, smooth without flutes. Their bodies are carved from Egyptian granite, and their bases and capitals are from Greek marble.
Apparently, the outstanding engineering talent of the Romans was based on the experience of their predecessors on the Apennine Peninsula - the Etruscans. This mysterious people knew how to build arches and domes, but the scale and grandeur of Roman buildings were unthinkable for them. Thanks to the invention of concrete by the Romans, the post-and-beam structural system invented by the Greeks was replaced by a new one - a monolithic shell. Two brick walls were erected, the space between them was filled with rubble and poured with concrete.
In engineering terms, the dome of the Pantheon is of the greatest importance. From the outside, it seems almost flat, while from the inside it is a perfect hemisphere. To date, it is the largest dome ever built using concrete, but without reinforcement. Its basis is brickwork. In order to reduce the weight of the massive structure, travertine chips were used in the lower part, and lighter materials - pumice and tuff - were used in the upper part.
The diameter of the dome is 43, 2 m. For comparison, the diameter of the dome of St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome is 42, 5 m, and Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence is 42 m. Architects of a later time sometimes managed to approach the size of the dome of the Pantheon, but they could only be surpassed in the beginning of the twentieth century.
Pantheon - demonstrates the technical skill of its creators and a deep interpretation of the interior space. The top of the dome rises 43 meters, which is almost equal to the diameter of the rotunda. Thus, a ball can be entered into the interior. This ratio gives the one inside a feeling of absolute harmony and peace.
For ancient Roman structures, the mismatch between the internal and external is characteristic. Outside, the architecture of the Pantheon is restrained, powerful and simple enough. Inside, it opens up a light and solemn space. Nothing reminds of the colossal thickness of the walls - 6 m. In the interior, the walls are enlivened by numerous columns and semi-columns, semicircular and rectangular niches. The floor is paved with white marble that reflects the light.
The inside of the dome is decorated with rows of rectangular depressions - caissons. They facilitate the construction and deprive the inner surface of monotony. In ancient times, the sense of elegance was enhanced by the bronze frames of the caissons and bronze rosettes in each of them.
Sunlight enters through a circular hole in the center of the dome - the "eye of the Pantheon" or "oculus". It is a symbol of the sun, while the harmonious interior space itself can be a symbolic model of the universe. At noon, the pouring light forms a kind of light column. According to the Etruscans, in the center of the world is the world tree, which supports the firmament. In the Etruscan burial complexes (round in plan and covered with a false dome), there was a pillar that symbolized this tree. The Romans borrowed this tradition. So in the center of the mausoleum of Octavian Augustus there was a pillar with a burial chamber. On the day of the founding of Rome, April 21, a ray of sunlight penetrating the oculus illuminates the entrance to the Pantheon. There is even an assumption that in ancient times the temple was used as a sundial.
