I think the Pantheon is the most impressive architecture that our species have ever produced. I'd love to see it some day.
this post was submitted on 12 Apr 2025
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There is a lot of "you have to travel there" stuff that people annoy you with imo, but after visiting Rome the Pantheon really hits different live I have to admit.
I often roll my eyes when people talk about aliens traveling to earth to build impossible structures, but when it comes to the Pantheon... it actually does kinda seem like it was built by aliens.
Like... how?! How was the dome supported during construction and how is it still standing? Absolutely wild.
How was the dome supported during construction
I don't know, but scaffolding isn't to mysterious. Sure it's complicated scaffolding, but looking at it as a spherical upside down boat isn't to outrageous.
Having seen both I was more impressed by the Hagia Sofia, but that was before it was returned to a mosque.
hits different live
I guess I don't appreciate things well, bc I didn't really feel much from seeing the Pantheon or even the Sistine Chapel. But what I REALLY loved seeing live was just the downtown area in Rome between Piazza Venezia, the Spanish Steps, and the bridge to Castel Sant'Angelo. So amazing to wander around these 1800s/1900s buildings making up a bustling modern city and every single block has a church, a plaza, and some ruins. My favorite was the ruins of the Largo di Torre Argentina which I believe was where Julius Caesar got stabbed, and which houses a cat sanctuary. There was a newsstand nearby and a grocer, so I could get a comic book and a snack and sit on a bench looking down on it. Eventually a cat would saunter up and be like: what.
That's an interesting pick. Why the Pantheon?
It's impossible for me to comprehend how it was built, and how it's managed to last this long. The answer might as well be "magic," judging by the awe I experience when thinking about it.
The temporary support system constructed underneath it to support the dome during construction would've been quite the sight.
You should check out the inverted architecture process. You might understand and love the magic in that:
https://scrambleit.substack.com/p/why-buildings-are-designed-upside
That was a great read!
Cutaway diagram of the cutaway diagram of the cutaway diagram of the Roman Pantheon:
.Who is the artist who made this?
07sketches, it says in the top right corner
07sketches is one of ancient Rome's greatest.
Nice