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| Pantheon entrance |
Pantheon (present name:
Chiesa Santa Maria dei Martiri, informally: Santa Maria Rotonda) in Rome, Italy
Started to be built little more than 2000 years ago, finished around 1900 years ago, baptized to be Christian 1400 years ago. Officially remained Christian. But it's atmosphere is still "pagan", roman. The really first place in my life where I felt like I could stand or after preparing, even hold a mass.
All the construction of the building is just harmonic. The height of the roof of the temple (sorry, for me it will not be ever a church) is the same as the diameter of the interior circle of the building, 43,3 metres (142 feet). Up, there's a 9 meter (30 feet) diameter oculus that is covered with... ...nothing. In rain (and probably during snowing) the ground is wet. And moreover, we can see the sky and the Sun shining in... Splendid feeling...
One of the most special places I've ever been throughout my whole life...
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| Sun shining in from the oculus in a January morning |
Recommendation: Try to get there very early (first our train arrived at around 6 am to Rome in January, so we arrived to the Pantheon around 9 am. There were just few people, who stayed silent and... ...yes, really silent. As I found on internet, the temple is open on Monday – Saturday 9 am - 6.30 pm and on Sunday: 9 am – 1 pm. (telephone number: +39 06 68300230)
My opinion: It's no to try to make a Christian church from a Roman temple. The mentality, the hundred thousands of people prayed for many gods inside instead of "The Christian God" can't and won't be changed after putting corpses of Italian kings or a great renaissance painter, Raffaello. Moreover, I don't think the Christian sculptures (or believers) could really feel familiar with the building symbolizes the harmony of gods and of the Universe.
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| Aerial view of Pantheon; copyright: Google Earth |
A great photo from Barry Scharf from the dome from inside: http://fineartamerica.com/featured/pantheon-dome-barry-scharf.html
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