The pantheon is important because it has a dome. This dome was the model for pretty much all the Renaissance domes. The reason the dome was still around for them to use as a model is that after Rome fell, the Pantheon was repurposed from being a pagan temple into being a Christian church. So it didn't get pulled down for parts like some of the other ruins did. I was impressed with how large it was. I was expecting the dome to be small and less impressive. It was actually very big and pretty cool.
The pantheon should not be confused with the Parthenon. The Parthenon is Greek while the Pantheon was built by the Romans. The Pantheon has a dome; the Parthenon once had tons of cool sculptures and reliefs. Now all of those are in the Royal British Museum and the domes modeled on the Pantheon's are all over Europe. We went and saw them all.
You forgot the part about the Parthenon blowing up in WWI because it was used as a weapons depot.
ReplyDeletewe did forget about that!
ReplyDeleteIt seems to have recovered remarkably well.