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The building was once flanked by a long colonnade which obscured the barrel-shaped rotunda, making the entrance through the portico into the domed interior even more stunning. The Corinthian columns of the portico are themselves a marvel. Each 11.8-metre high column weighs 60 tonnes and is made from one piece of Egyptian granite that was dragged more than 100 kilometres from a quarry to the Nile and then floated on barges across to the Roman port of Ostia.<\/p>\n
Geometric clarity is the defining feature of the Pantheon. Perfect proportions are one of the reasons the structure is so pleasing to the eye, with the distance from the floor to the oculus being exactly the same as the diameter of the dome. The circle in a square motif is repeated in tiles and of course in the oculus \u2013 a perfect circle open to the skies at the top of the dome. The sun pours through this \u2018eye\u2019, casting a golden circle that travels across the interior of the dome throughout the day.<\/p>\n
The interior coffers, or niches, are divided into 28 sections, equal to the number of columns below. It is said that 28 is a perfect number \u2013 meaning it is equal to the sum of its divisors. That is to say, 2 + 4 + 7 + 14 = 28.\u00a0 Perfect numbers were often thought to connect the earthly realm with the cosmos, which would have been wonderfully exhibited every April 21, the date of Rome\u2019s founding and the day the emperor would stand in splendour in the piazza as sun\u2019s rays streaming through the oculus would fall through the grates of the doors, casting god-like beams around him. A sight like that would be hard for even the most seditious citizen to resist. Who doesn\u2019t want to be in the presence of a god?<\/p>\n
The Byzantines took over Rome in the year 330, after which the Pantheon fell into decline. However, it was Pope Boniface who inadvertently saved the building \u2013 not only from disrepair, but from the ravages of the Middle Ages by consecrating it as a Christian church in 609. Saint Mary\u2019s and the Martyrs was the first Roman pagan temple to be converted to a church and the Papacy continues to maintain it today. Naturally, as one of the most beautiful churches in the world, it became the burial place for many a renaissance superstar such as the painter Raphael and his fianc\u00e9, King Victor Emmanuel II and his son King Umberto I, his wife Margherita of Savoy, composer Arcangelo Corelli and architect Baldassare Peruzzi.<\/p>\n
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Given the building\u2019s proportions, architectural perfection and historical significance, it\u2019s no surprise that it is Rolf Blakstad\u2019s first choice when naming buildings that inspire him. He has recreated its shapes in a few smaller replicas or homages, always testing the ancient techniques to get a better understanding of how they were achieved. \u201cIt\u2019s very simple actually,\u201d he explains. \u201cYou use a stick and a piece of string. Sometimes the age-old technology is so modest, and the results are so much better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of course, he has taken his own daughters there on an architectural pilgrimage just as his father did with him. \u201cThey could immediately see the connection between the earth and the heavens. They got it,\u201d he recalls. \u201cWe all seem to be understanding more and more, that what we do is not superior to what people were doing thousands of years ago. Nowhere near it. In my opinion, the Pantheon has never been equalled.\u201d Architecturally and from an engineering perspective, the Pantheon is the essence of genius and grace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s a rhetorical question of course, because no one knows what heaven looks like. Even …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1821,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n