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The Pantheon is the best preserved temple of Ancient Rome, but in this episode we'll explore some huge, structural rooms of the Pantheon (the grottoni) that are rarely accessed. Indeed, most people don't even know they exist! How is this possible? What purpose did they serve? Let's explore!0:00 Introduction1:14 Pantheon's secret rooms (the grottoes- grottoni)- floor plan; grottoni rooms and Basilica of Neptune: engineering necessities of Pantheon4:13 Tour of the grottoni rooms6:42 Pantheon brickstamps and Basilica of Neptune decorations8:09 Grottoni vaultingExplore the secret rooms of the Pantheon | 11:00Darius Arya Digs | 17.6K subscribers | 127,898 views | January 7,...

Visiting the Pantheon, one of Rome’s premier tourist sites, it’s hard not be humbled by the knowledge that this building has lasted 1900 years and still stands as the world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome, while modern concrete structures deteriorate. Take a look at the magnificence of the Pantheon.Photo credit: CC BY-SA 4.0 licensePhoto credit: Macrons CC BY-SA 4.0 licensePhoto credit: Anthony Majanlahti CC BY 2.0 licenseThe Romans’ concrete technology was lost for almost a millennium as the Dark Ages unfolded, and Europe regressed technologically and economically. The discovery of Roman manuscripts on making concrete in 1414 sparked gradual reintroduction of...

It's a riddle that has left engineers scratching their heads for a very long time.How is it that Rome's famed Pantheon has stayed intact for almost 2,000 years while many modern concrete structures crumble after just a few decades?Now, researchers may have finally discovered the secret behind ancient construction methods – and it's all to do with tiny pieces of lime that come with 'self-healing' capabilities.Close analysis of Roman concrete has revealed tiny, bright white mineral chunks called 'lime clasts'...And they discovered the lime may actually help the concrete 'heal' itself when it cracks or breaks.During the hot mixing process...

The sinkhole, located in the Piazza della Rotonda, is almost 10 square feet (1 square meter) big and just over 8 feet (2.5 m) deep. Inside the hole, archaeologists found seven ancient slabs made of travertine, a type of sedimentary rock. Luckily, no one was hurt when the sinkhole collapsed on the afternoon of April 27, because the normally crowded piazza was empty due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sinkholes like this one, however, are becoming an increasingly common problem in Rome. The stones uncovered by the sinkhole were created around the same time that the Pantheon was built, from 27...

You’ve Seen One Elohim, You’ve Seen Them All? A Critique of Mormonism’s Use of Psalm 82 Michael S. Heiser FARMS Review 19/1 (2007): 221–66. 1550-3194 (print), 2156-8049 (online) Heiser discusses Psalm 82 and the interpretations of Elohim that Latter-day Saints and evangelicals derive from that scriptural passage. Heiser then offers alternative interpretations from his own study. "Over the course of the last eight years I have read several papers dealing in one way or another with that feature of Israelite religion known as the divine council. Anyone doing serious research in Israelite religion is soon confronted with the powerful evidence...

Vatican Wreckovates Pantheon (Rome) 1409 years ago one of Rome's most famous monuments was converted into a church. After just as long a period, almost 50 years after the liturgical reform of 1969/1970, a fixed, so-called altar was erected and consecrated. On May 13, 609, the Catholic Church Sancta Maria ad Martyres was established from the Pantheon of Emperor Hadrian, the pagan temple dedicated to all the gods. Pantheon in Rome The transformation was part of a comprehensive Christianization of Rome. Christianity had overcome paganism. The Christians, who were repeatedly subjected to bloody persecution during the first three centuries of...

Today is the anniversary of the Dedication of the Roman church Santa Maria “ad Martyres“, which took place in 609. This church is also called the Pantheon.Since on upcoming Pentecost, Roman firefighters will be dropping red rose petals through the oculus of the mighty building, I figured we could review what I have posted in the past.In Rome on Pentecost, in the Pantheon, now a minor basilica called S. Maria ad martyres there is a beautiful custom.Rose petals are dropped through the circular oculus opening at the top of the dome, which is the widest is all of Rome, for...

The forces that shape the Democrats. Moloch (abortion), Gaia (earth-worshippers), Dionysus (homosexual agenda, contraception, adultery, unbridled lust and fornication), Marx (communism), Stalin (totalitarian statism), Allah (Islamic terrorism), and Two-Face (lie about everything). The One True God is not welcome in the Democrat universe.

The U.S. Air Force Academy has pulled out of a Christian-sponsored children’s toy drive after commanders were accused of religious intolerance. Mikey Weinstein, an academy graduate who runs the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, said the academy’s participation in Operation Christmas Child is inappropriate because of its evangelical Christian roots. Operation Christmas Child is sponsored by Samaritan’s Purse, headed by Franklin Graham — the son of evangelist Billy Graham. It packs toys and other items into shoe boxes and sends them to needy children around the world, along with a Christian message in each gift. “This is arrogance beyond measure,” Weinstein...

For the first time in Senate history, a bill has been introduced to encourage agencies not to discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender couples seeking to adopt. “As more and more LGBT couples are getting married and starting families, we have a great opportunity to place children without a family into happy homes,” said Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand, New York Democrat and lead sponsor of the Every Child Deserves a Family Act, Monday at the Huffington Post. The past year has seen many moves toward gay equality, and “the momentum is there to build on our progress,” she said,...

Q. In the Old Testament, the terms "Israel," "Jacob," and "Jew" all seem to clearly be applied to the grandson of Abraham, the son of Isaac, the man Jacob and his physical descendants (Gen. 32:28; 35:10). But in the New Testament, the terms "Israel" and "Jew" are used in passages which are more difficult to understand which some interpret as teaching that faithful Gentiles are described as "Israel" or "true Jews" (e.g., Rom. 2:28-29; 9:4; Gal. 6:16). Can you shed some light on this? A. I believe that much of the confusion concerning the use of the term “Israel” in...

The imposing temple in Rome, completed in AD 128, is one of the most impressive buildings that survives from antiquity. It consists of a cylindrical chamber topped by a domed roof with an oculus in the top which lets through a dramatic shaft of sunlight. It boasts a colonnaded courtyard at the front. When Robert Hannah of the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, visited the Pantheon in 2005, researching for a book... he realised that the Pantheon may have been more than just a temple. During the six months of winter, the light of the noon sun traces...

As peals of church bells rang out across the Eternal City this morning, Romans and visitors alike began making their way to the Pantheon for the celebration of the Pentecost Mass and the performance of a beautiful ritual that’s been going on for 1400 years in which a shower of red rose petals is dropped through the oculus of the ancient building and falls to the floor.The Pantheon, as many eCoolers will know, was build by the Roman Emperor Hadrian between 117-125 AD. It was dedicated to all the Roman gods and its 143 foot wide concrete dome must have...

Apart from the sheer mass of the Clintons’ earnings, perhaps the most intriguing revelation contained in the release of the Clinton tax data last week was that Bill Clinton received a whopping $15 million advance in 2001 for what would become his autobiography, My Life. As even the New York Times noticed, this was significantly “larger than previously thought” — or, more exactly, than previously reported. For example, an August 7, 2001 article in the Times puts the figure vaguely at “over $10 million.” A Wall Street Journal report from the following day cites a more concrete figure of “close...

This is pretty cool. There was a Solemn High Mass celebrated in the Pantheon of Rome recently to celebrate the 1400th anniversary of its consecration as a Catholic Church. I wonder what the tourists thought? Take that, Jupiter.

Rome, May 13, 2009: Holy Mass was today celebrated in Rome's Collegiate Basilica of Sancta Maria Ad Martyres (a.k.a. the Pantheon) in celebration of the 1,400th anniversary of its consecration as a Christian temple. Mass was sung according to the Extraordinary Form of the Roman rite. The celebrant was from Australia, the deacon was from Italy and the subdeacon was from the United States. The schola cantorum consisted of priests and seminarians from Pontifical Universities in Rome. After the Mass one of the faithful remarked: "It was a favorable occasion of deep historical significance."

WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 (UPI) -- A group of 86 evangelical Christian leaders are reportedly supporting a major initiative to fight global warming. Warning "millions of people could die in this century because of climate change," the leaders include the presidents of 39 evangelical colleges, aid groups and churches, such as the Salvation Army, and pastors of megachurches, including Rick Warren, author of the best seller "The Purpose-Driven Life," The New York Times reported Wednesday. "For most of us, until recently this has not been treated as a pressing issue or major priority," the Christian leaders said in a statement to...

The remains of Alexandre Dumas, author of The Three Musketeers, began their stately passage to Paris yesterday, where tomorrow they will be placed in the Pantheon beside those of Victor Hugo and Emile Zola.