Architecture: Old & New

Pantheon - Rome

One of the most remarkable man-made structures I have ever visited is the Pantheon in Rome, once a pagan temple and now both a Catholic church and one of Rome's major tourist attractions. When one considers that the Pantheon was originally built in the first century, rebuilt in the second century, and still stands today as an intact and usable building, one's appreciation of the capabilities of Roman architecture and engineering soars. I realize the pyramids of Egypt are thousands of years older, but they are, in some respects, rather primitive structures built to impress the world (and presumably the gods) by their size. The pyramids are magnificent, but they lack the remarkable blending of art and architecture that results in a beautiful building fit for daily use, a building like the Pantheon.

Pantheon Interior - Rome

I can't imagine many structures being built today lasting more than a few hundred years. Indeed, I suspect the design and construction of most buildings these days include some consideration of planned obsolescence. Today's structures are also completely dependent on their internal systems, the infrastructure that enables them to function as usable buildings. Without its electrical, climate control, plumbing, and communications systems, without its elevators and fire-prevention systems, no modern skyscraper would be even inhabitable.

The Pantheon's dome and oculus

We can be thankful that the ancients didn't think the same way. If they had, ancient structures like the Pantheon would not be standing today. When they built something special they didn't consider such concepts as mean-time-between-failure or maintainability or six-sigma quality standards. But they built these structures to last. The walls of the Pantheon's dome, for example, are 20 feet thick at the base and only five feet thick at the oculus or eye at the top of the dome. The Roman engineers cleverly embedded lighter materials in the upper sections of the dome to reduce weight, and used the multi-row arrangement of waffle-like coffers for the same purpose. Until the 19th century no dome was larger, and the Pantheon's dome still remains the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome.

Interestingly, modern cement and concrete mixtures are much stronger than those used by the Romans, and are also reinforced with rebar steel. I wonder how many structures using these modern materials will still be around in the year 4100.

These odd thoughts were precipitated by an article addressing the latest findings on the construction of the Vatican's Basilica of St. Peter. Using specially designed radar, Vatican researchers discovered that the dome of St. Peter's was constructed using seven iron rings designed to reinforce the dome's travertine stone. And so, what we have is the totally unexpected use of a kind of reinforced concrete during the 16th century. This was apparently quite a surprise since the original construction details had long since been lost.

I'm always surprised by those who think we are so much smarter than those who went before us. Our predecessors might not have had access to our technology, but they certainly made better use of the technology they had. We do indeed stand on the shoulders of giants.

To read more about the engineering investigation of St. Peter's dome, click here.

Roman Virtual Tours

Anyone who has traveled to Rome knows that churches abound in the Eternal City. Indeed, there are over 600 Catholic churches in Rome, but the typical pilgrim or tourist might find the time to explore perhaps a half-dozen during the usual brief three- or four-day visit. On our last trip, during which we spent ten full days in Rome, Diane and I made a real effort and yet visited just 16 churches. (I counted them.) I suppose we could have visited more, but we were determined to enjoy a relaxing stay and kept a rather loose schedule. And, too, there are so many other wonderful places to visit, besides churches, in Rome.

We also walked almost everywhere, which is the best way to avoid putting on weight when sampling the city along with its wonderful food, espresso, cappuccino, gelato and wines. Walking might have slowed us down a bit, but in addition to being wonderful exercise for us old folks, it also let us experience the city and its people up close and personal. And by walking almost everywhere we avoided the expensive taxis that can put quite a dent in your daily budget. (Anything that drains euros from the funds available for food and wine is a bad thing.) On occasion we took advantage of public transportation and tourist buses, but only to see far-flung places like the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. Rome is a wonderful city for walking so long as you keep a sharp eye out in high-traffic areas, wear comfortable walking shoes, and have a good city map or, even better, a hand-held GPS.

Of course, most Catholics will never have the opportunity to go to Rome. But now, through the miracle of the Internet, you can do the next best thing: you can bring Rome into your living room. Just by downloading and using Google Earth, for example, you can experience much of Rome and its beauty almost as if you were there personally. Using the street view function you can move through a good portion of the city and enjoy it from a pedestrian's perspective. Google Earth is also an excellent tool for planning your own personal, self-guided walking tours, especially useful when visiting an unfamiliar city. And you can't beat it for checking out that "budget" hotel and its neighborhood before booking your room. If you're one of the few who have never used Google Earth, download it now. You're in for a treat.

But even better than Google Earth, at least for touring Roman churches, are the virtual tours that have been developed for the Vatican's website. The latest church to have its own online virtual tour is one of Rome's oldest churches, the Basilica of St. John Lateran. Below is a brief video describing the tour:

...and you can access the tour itself by clicking on the link below:

St. John Lateran - Virtual Tour

 

Basilica of St John Lateran

Virtual tours of the other major basilicas of Rome have been available online for some time now, and can be accessed by clicking on the links I've provided below.

St. Peter - Virtual Tour.

Basilica of St. Peter

St. Mary Major - Virtual Tour

Basilica of St. Mary Major

St. Paul Outside the Walls - Virtual Tour

Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls

In a previous post I mentioned the online virtual tour of the Sistine Chapel. Because of the crowds one usually encounters when visiting the Sistine Chapel, this virtual tour is, in some respects, actually better than a personal visit. Not only can you take your time, but you can zoom-in on Michelangelo's artwork.

There's a lot of garbage on the Internet, but there's also so much of real value. One need only look for it.

God's peace...

(Note: above photos all taken in September 2008)