L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, MAY 31, 2018 www.italoamericano.org 12 L'Italo-Americano A s your eyes acclima- tize to the soft ambi- ent light, sacred stat- ues begin to peek out from shaded alcoves. A single shaft of dazzling sun- light hits the floor, drawing your gaze up to the heavens. And the smell of incense assails the sens- es. But this is no typical Catholic church. This is Rome's breath- taking, mind-blowing Pantheon, built first as a pagan temple before the birth of Christ and later adopted by the new religion. It would take 1500 years to redis- cover the original Roman tech- nology used to build its dome and today over 7.5 million visitors cross under its portico to marvel at the beauty, engineering and architecture. Let's take a stroll inside to admire the reputed eighth wonder that is the Pan- theon of Rome. Time has not always been kind to Rome's ancient buildings with many, including the exten- sive Forum and Roman Baths of Caracalla, having been reduced to ruins, their fabric often robbed out by successive generations building on the shoulders of the first empire. The Pantheon is a little different. It still stands tall, still has a roof and is still in daily use a full 2000 years after the ancients first crossed its imposing threshold. Incredibly the building we see today dates to around 126 AD, dedicated by Emperor Hadrian, a passionate student of architec- ture. But this isn't the first Pan- theon, it's the third temple to be built on the site and the reputed location of the death of Romulus, Rome's legendary founder in the 7th century BC. Marcus Agrippa, Consul to the Plebs and life long friend of Emperor Augustus, commis- sioned the first Pantheon in 27 BC. Sadly Agrippa's temple burnt to the ground in 80 AD during a great fire blazing for 3 long days and nights some 16 years after Nero had watched the city burn. Emperor Titus was surveying the devastating destruction of Pompeii when the Pantheon fell. And it was his successor Emper- or Domitian who sanctioned the temple's second reconstruction only for it to suffer a similar fate when it too was set alight by lightning in 110 AD. The surviving third temple designed by Syrian-Greek archi- tect Apollodorus of Damascus is a stunning amalgamation of ancient stylistic sensibilities and engineering expertise that remained unsurpassed for cen- turies. To the front sits a Greek-style portico or porch of 16 massive granite columns. The Corinthian pillars stand 11.8 meters tall and each weighs 60 tons. The forest of pillars leads to a cool, shady vestibule linking the classical porch to the Roman interior. Entering the sanctuary the eye is immediately drawn upwards to the domed roof and a distinctive central oculus open to the sky. Light pierces the dark- ness sending a shaft of glittering sunbeams to the floor. And grad- ually, as the senses acclimatize, the interior comes into soft focus revealing a classic ornamental marble décor crowned by the breathtakingly minimalist Roman dome, unquestionably the most fascinating part of the Pantheon. Five concentric rings of con- crete encircle the cupola, gradual- ly cinching its diameter in as it rises. A geometric pattern of sunken squares adds to the feel- ing of modernity and minimal- ism. These squares are, in fact, an ingenious Roman engineering trick to add structure and strength whilst lightening the roof's weight in order to stop it collaps- ing in on itself. The thickness of the dome also gets progressively thinner as it rises, again helping to lessen the load. And although many think of concrete as a recent building material, it was the ancient Romans who invented it putting it to impressive use here. Concrete was the perfect substance as it's key ingredient - lightweight volcanic tufa rock – adds strength and durability with- out significant weight. The oculus in the top of the dome stretches 7.8 meters across letting light, rain, snow and wind in throughout the year. This means that the marble flooring is occasionally doused during storms, but a simple slanting of the floor empties rainwater towards hidden drains. And in practice, rain rarely reaches the ground with the heat inside the dome evaporating many of the smaller droplets as they fall. More Roman ingenuity. The dome has stood for cen- turies as the largest unreinforced solid concrete dome in the world. And today it is still larger than the Basilica of St Peter in the Vatican and Brunelleschi's Duomo in Florence. But the Pan- theon is more than just its spec- tacular dome. It is also a working Catholic church. We're not sure who was wor- shipped originally at the Pan- theon. Some suggest it was a pagan temple to all Roman deities although it seems more likely that it was dedicated to a smaller group, possibly including Jupiter. It remained in use for nearly five centuries before falling into disuse with the fall of the Roman Empire. Mystery sur- rounds how the building man- aged to escape the ravages of successive barbarian raids that laid waste to many civic monu- ments, but by 7th century it had been brought under the protec- tive wing of the nascent church after it was donated to Pope Boniface IV by the Byzantine emperor Phocas. Cartloads of pagan relics and statuary were removed and on 13 May 609 AD the church was consecrated to St Mary and the Martyrs becoming known locally as Santa Maria Rotonda. Examining the interior of the church now one can still experi- ence the building much as the ancients would have seen it. Where pagans once worshipped, the Pantheon has now become the resting place for both Victor Emmanuel II, the first king of unified Italy, and his successor Umberto I alongside the leg- endary Renaissance painter Raphael. Saintly statues also stand in the niches where Roman deities once stood and an altar has been added but the dimen- sions, columns and alcoves are largely unchanged as is much of the marble paneling. The church also forms a per- manent cultural bridge between the old and the new on 21st April each year. At midday the sun aligns with a metal grill above the entrance flooding the door- way with brilliant sunlight. This was a deliberate design feature of the original architect to com- memorate the founding of the city on April 21st illuminating the emperor as he entered to give thanks to the gods. It's a mightily impressive feat, given that this monumental building was inten- tionally aligned to the sun with- out the use of calculators, com- puters or calculus. And if you're in town on May 20th this year make sure to attend the Pentecost Mass to cel- ebrate 50 days since Easter Sun- day. It's a public holiday in many Christian countries and the Pan- theon marks it with an emotional and ancient ceremony releasing thousands of ruby red rose petals into the church from the oculus to symbolize the Holy Spirit's descent to Earth. One not to miss even if you're not particularly devoted. Ultimately the timely transi- tion from pagan to Christian wor- ship kept the temple in almost continuous use for nearly 2000 years. It crucially ensured that successive Popes were obligated to maintain the building fabric. And although many original fea- tures such as the bronze roof tiles from the dome, a bronze ceiling from the portico and some mar- ble reliefs have been removed over the years, Rome's superla- tive Pantheon still stands as a tes- tament to Roman and Greek engineering and architecture. If you haven't seen it, add it to your bucket list; it will take your breath away just as it has been doing for centuries. The oculus in the top of the dome stretches 7.8 meters across letting light, rain, snow and wind in throughout the year Rome's Pantheon – from paganism to Christianity ELIZABETH SALTHOUSE LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE

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