Rome, Pantheon, Outside

(2 photos)
Started in 27 BC by Agrippa, and rebuilt in 117 AD by Hadrian, we found the Pantheon to be a splendid building, the most complete structure that remains from antiquity. The building and the dome (the diameter of which is equal to its height from the floor), is built so a ball 142 feet in diameter would fit inside. As a bumblebee can’t fly, the experts say the dome of the Pantheon can’t be built, and won’t last if it is built.

The building exterior is rough and rather primitive looking, without marble facing. The Pantheon’s walls are twenty-two feet thick, each door weighs 20 tons. The portico (porch or entrance) is borne by sixteen columns, each made of one piece of Corinthian granite 40 feet high and over fourteen feet around. (Some references say 16 columns, others say 24. I should have counted while I was visiting the Pantheon, four different years.) All columns are original, except for the three on the left. After about 1600 years had passed, the Pantheon’s portico’s bronze cladding was removed and transported to the Vatican, where it became part of the decoration of the canopy in St. Peter’s Basilica.
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This is a view of the exterior of the Pantheon, on the side away from the entrance.