
I've recently returned from a trip to Italy and the Pantheon was certainly the most impressive building that I visited in Rome - amazingly it was built about 2,000 years ago and has been in continuous use since then, initially as a temple to the Roman Gods and then for the last 1,400 years or so as a Catholic church.
With a diameter of 142ft (43.3M) the dome is still the largest unreinforced (ie no steel reinforcement) concrete dome in the world. The dome is coffered to keep the weight to a minimum and a special high strength 'pozzolan' cement, invented by the Romans, was used. The additives in pozzolan cement are still being used today for modern structures.
The oculus at the top of the dome is open to the sky creating the strong shaft of sunlight that you can see in this photo that moves around the interior in a 'sundial' type effect.
Like what you see here and are interested in photographic composition?.....the blog section of my website now has a complete set of 5 articles covering my personal approach to the subject: Ian Bramham Photography - Blog
For purchasing high quality archival prints of any of these photos you can send me an email by clicking here or by going to my website Ian Bramham - Fine Art Photography where prices are listed in the gallery sections under each individual photo.
NIKON D700
1/15 second
F/11.0
ISO 720
16 mm (35mm equiv.)