The Pantheon Research Paper

In the busiest area of Rome lays the Pantheon. Pantheon translates to “to honor the Gods” in Greek. The church has claimed this holy structure as a resting place for the most famous Popes. Agrippa, the son-in-law of Augusta, built the structure in 27 B.C.. It has withstood many wars, weather, pollution, and other damaging factors in the city; however it still looks just as great as it did more than two thousand years ago. The Pantheon is a circular structure, or rotunda, with a welcoming porch. The porch features a pediment supported by 16 granite Corinthian columns. The columns feature a decorative cornice of acanthus leaves. A square room connects the porch to the rotunda with a large concrete dome. The dome has a light well, …show more content…
Agrippa L.F. Cos Tertium Fecit” is carved, which translates to "Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, in his third consulate, made it". The structure still functions unimpaired even with major cracks in the dome. Mycenaeans in Greece used a technique called corbelling to make tombs, and Romans used this same technique while building the dome to ensure durability for many, many years.
Located in the rotunda between two Corinthian columns are seven niches that represent the seven gods. Everything you see has not changed much in two thousand years. The columns, the marble, the inner decorations have not changed; even the floor is the same, built with precious marble from all over the Mediterranean Sea. Here walked emperors like Hadrian and Charles V.
As the layers of structure, orders, and various individual elements ply across the Pantheon's bounding surfaces, a complex pattern of articulation emerges, organizing all the parts into a satisfying whole. We see in the Pantheon, an illustration of classical composition worked out simultaneously in three dimensions and at a number of different scales. For example, the walls are organized by an elaborate framework consisting of columns, lintels, niches, doorways, and connecting wall surfaces. Further, each of these elements subdivides into various shapes and sizes adding to the intricate detail of the building. Alternating solids and voids are also strategically placed throughout the

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