The Pantheon

The Pantheon is one of the oldest standing structures today, and it still is the structure with the largest concrete dome. The Pantheon sits in the middle of the Old City, a section of Rome that is similar to walking into a time machine. On the Piazza della Rotonda, the location of the Pantheon, many shops and cafes fill the sidewalks and the roads, which are closed to vehicles, are filled with people walking, mopeds, and carriages carrying tourists. It was built during the time when Rome was changing from the Late Republic to the Early Empire (27BC-476AD). The Pantheon has the largest concrete dome in the world, you might think there are bigger ones, but in modern architecture domes and most concrete structures are built with reinforced concrete, concrete with reinforcement metal bars (rebars). The dome of the Pantheon is forty- three and a third meters high and wide, with an oculus (Latin word for eye) that measures 9 meters in diameter.

So to conclude this post, you might say that the Pantheon is one of the oldest structures in the world that still hold a record, and not only that, but also hold the Piazza della Rotonda together by being the central masterpiece in the Area. And though I have not been to Rome to visit myself, I still think that it deserves some respect for still being standing after two thousand long and hard years. One day in the future I would like to visit the world’s tallest building, which is located in Dubai, and is also the topic for my next post, something newer and more modern than the Pantheon.

Duvelle, C. and Rosi, M. (n.d.)The Pantheon, Rome’s Other Symbol. UNESCO Courier. March 16,

2010. Academic Search Complete.

The Pantheon (n.d) Valencia Stone. Retrieved April 1st, 2010. http://www.valenciastonesarasota.com/images/roman_pantheon.jpg