The Pantheon - Rome, Italy

The word Pantheon is a Greek word, meaning “honor all Gods”. In fact the original Pantheon, which was built in 31 BC, was first used as a temple to all gods. Having been burned down twice since being founded, the current Pantheon was built between 118 - 128 AD. In 609, the Pantheon became a church dedicated to St Mary of Martyrs.

The rotunda of the Pantheon is a perfect hemisphere, measuring 43.2 m in diameter, which is also the exact height of the dome. For 1000 years, this was the worlds largest brick dome in the world. To support this massive dome, the walls of the building had to be made 6 metres thick.