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Standing beneath the Pantheon’s massive dome in Rome, where a single circle of light from the oculus has been falling on marble and strangers for almost 2,000 years, a reminder that some things really were built to last. In the Pantheon you can almost hear years of history echoing off the marble walls. The light hits differently inside the Pantheon. From the coffered dome to the marble floors, the layers of history here are just incredible.
The Pantheon was completed around 126 CE under Emperor Hadrian on the site of an earlier temple. "Basilica di Santa Maria ad Martyres" which is the building's official Christian name, originally a temple to “all the gods”, but in 609 AD it was consecrated as a Christian church, which is the main reason it wasn't destroyed like other pagan temples. This building has survived barbarian raids and centuries of change to remain the best-preserved monument of Ancient Rome.
The dome is still the world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome. The opening at the top is called the oculus (latin for "eye") and is about 9 m wide. It is the building’s only direct source of natural light and also lets in rain, which drains through discreet holes in the floor. The diameter of the dome and the height to the oculus are both about 43.3 m, meaning a perfect sphere could fit inside the interior.
The famous Renaissance artist Raphael is buried here. His tomb is located on the right side of the rotunda.
Shukhov Radio Tower, Moscow, 1920. Russian civil war is in full swing. Communism is going to be the new reality. The old way of living will soon enough become a part of history.
Woven peasant basket is a vivid example of imperial Russian era, in particular, a life of a peasant. An engineer named Shukhov, after thorough analysis of a traditional basket, concludes that very same structure that a basket has can solidify huge constructions made from steel. Shukhov made a breakthrough… soviets now have a landmark in the history of structural engineering…
2025 the Tower is still on its place in Moscow, standing there as a child of the two notable eras.