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00:02The Pantheon, ancient Rome's best preserved monument, an engineering wonder unrivaled
00:12in its scale and pioneering construction.
00:15Many scholars think it's the most extraordinary building ever built.
00:19Buried inside this mighty edifice is an ancient mystery.
00:23This tunnel is part of a very extensive network that runs four kilometers.
00:30Now, new evidence beneath the streets of Rome reveals clues.
00:35The travertine slabs are a window into what this area may have looked like.
00:41How do the ancient engineers build its impossible dome with a gaping hole in the center?
00:47And can pioneering 3D scanning reveal who builds this ancient wonder?
00:54We can see the fingerprints of this emperor in the Pantheon.
00:59To unlock the mysteries of ancient Rome's greatest megastructure,
01:04we unearth its foundations.
01:08We digitally deconstruct its mighty dome roof
01:12and piece together clues at its feet
01:18to decode the greatest secrets of this incredible monument
01:22and the city around it.
01:33Rome, the capital of one of the greatest empires in history.
01:39It's ancient roots are evident throughout the city.
01:44Every structure is a vital clue to the mysterious world of the Romans.
01:53Right at the heart of the city stands the best preserved Roman monument in the world.
02:00The Pantheon.
02:04Surviving for 2,000 years, it's a miracle of engineering.
02:11The Pantheon is an iconic Roman building.
02:15In fact, it's one of the most famous in the world.
02:18Many scholars think it's the most extraordinary building ever built.
02:22And it's even more impressive when you think that it was designed and built 2,000 years ago
02:28without any of the advantages of modern technology that we have today.
02:34Today, this extraordinary monument captivates millions of people who come to visit each year.
02:4416 towering columns flank the entrance.
02:47Topped with marble capitals, each one is carved from a single piece of granite.
02:55Inside, the exquisitely decorated circular interior is designed to impress.
03:02And its 20 foot thick walls are built to stand for millennia.
03:07The roof is the largest dome of its kind.
03:11Over 140 feet wide, with a 30 foot hole in the middle.
03:18Despite its venerable age, to this day the monument's true purpose is a mystery.
03:29Valerie Higgins spends her life decoding the mysteries of ancient Rome.
03:34And none are more enigmatic than the Pantheon.
03:40The name Pantheon implies that at some point in the history of this building,
03:45it was a temple dedicated to all the gods.
03:49Most particularly the 12 Olympian gods, who were the most prestigious.
03:53The word Pantheon means temple of all the gods.
03:58But the Pantheon's design is far from that of a typical temple.
04:02When you look at it from this angle, it just looks like a typical temple.
04:07A huge, enormous temple.
04:09Behind it is this massive circular drum that we call the rotunda.
04:15And you think, that shouldn't be on the back of a temple.
04:20Most Roman temples are rectangular.
04:24Instead, the Pantheon's combination of an angular front and a curved rotunda at the back is completely unique.
04:32This isn't any temple. This is something that's extraordinary.
04:38The Pantheon's true purpose has puzzled archaeologists for centuries.
04:44But now, intriguing new clues have appeared around this monument that could help crack the mystery.
04:53Just a few months ago, a water pipe burst.
04:57It created a sinkhole. The cobblestones and the earth caved in.
05:01What they revealed were paving stones that were connected to the Pantheon.
05:09The sinkhole unearths a time capsule.
05:14Just a few feet beneath the modern piazza are travertine paving slabs from an ancient Roman square.
05:24Following these puzzle pieces to the Pantheon, archaeologists make an incredible discovery.
05:34A marble staircase leading up to a platform.
05:37And the remains of columns that are as old as the paving slabs.
05:42Can these buried stones help reveal the true purpose of the Pantheon?
05:54Paolo Carraffa investigates the mysterious remains of this older building.
05:59The Pantheon we see today is the last chapter of a long history.
06:04Our work has been to reconstruct such a long history.
06:09Paolo and his team create a comprehensive map of all the archaeological discoveries beneath the Pantheon.
06:16All these clues placed on a much more accurate map
06:21revealed a structure exactly similar to the Pantheon we see today.
06:27The bulk of these structures were part of the original Pantheon.
06:35The existence of an older, original Pantheon underneath the Pantheon we see today is an astonishing discovery.
06:44Paolo's research reveals the original Pantheon is built around 27 BC.
06:50His work leads to the man who builds it.
06:53According to the literary sources, the original Pantheon is created by the first emperor of the Roman Empire, Augustus.
07:03Why does Augustus build this first Pantheon?
07:10Valerie believes she can find clues in the surrounding city.
07:14So here we are in the heart of Rome, it's full of buildings, it's full of people, but it isn't
07:19in the least bit as it would have been at the time of the first Pantheon.
07:24To investigate the ancient area, Valerie compares today's map of Rome with a map of the city 2,000 years
07:31ago.
07:32We can see the Pantheon here at the time of Augustus.
07:36You wouldn't have seen anything in this area except the mausoleum of Augustus.
07:43Valerie suspects there is a connection between these two monuments, and that Augustus' mausoleum is a clue to the purpose
07:51of his original Pantheon.
07:55Valerie has obtained rare permission to launch a drone-mounted camera above Rome.
08:01She wants to investigate the layout of the two monuments from the air.
08:06If we take a drone to go up and to fly over the top, we can have a look at
08:11how these structures relate to each other.
08:16Valerie searches for the mausoleum.
08:18From the site of the original Pantheon, the drone flies north over the rooftops of Rome.
08:30Valerie looks at Augustus' mausoleum half a mile north of the Pantheon.
08:37Its huge circular structure makes it easily identifiable, even from 200 feet in the air.
08:45The eye in the sky reveals the two giant circular monuments are perfectly aligned.
08:51The Pantheon and the mausoleum of Augustus appear to be facing each other, and they are linked along a visual
08:59axis.
09:00What more can the connection reveal?
09:05Valerie heads to the mausoleum of Augustus to investigate.
09:10It is one of the largest tombs in the world.
09:14This mausoleum tells us quite a lot about Augustus.
09:18He's founding a big imperial Rome.
09:22This monument was built to be a permanent memorial to him and his achievements.
09:28Valerie believes the mausoleum and the Pantheon are connected as part of an imperial design.
09:36Having a Pantheon facing the mausoleum that he and the rest of his family are going to be buried in
09:44indicate that they have a very special status.
09:47He is laying the foundations for acceptance of a new form of government, of an emperor.
09:56The mausoleum's perfect alignment with the Pantheon reveals the original Pantheon's true purpose.
10:03Both buildings are tributes to Augustus, where he can be worshipped and venerated forever.
10:11So why do the ruins of his original Pantheon lie beneath the building we see today?
10:21In 80 AD, fire breaks out in Rome.
10:25It burns for three days, devastating the area around the Pantheon.
10:34The fire spreads from building to building, engulfing the original Pantheon, causing it to collapse.
10:42The Romans restore the Pantheon to its former glory.
10:48But in 110 AD, lightning strikes and destroys it.
10:55The rubble is cleared, and the present Pantheon is built.
11:02The original Pantheon is buried, but not forgotten.
11:06The new version stands boldly in its place.
11:10But who builds this new Pantheon?
11:21The Pantheon, built on top of an older temple to honor the first emperor of Rome, Augustus.
11:29But who builds the new Pantheon we see today?
11:35Valerie Higgins believes that clues in the structure will reveal the creator of this masterpiece.
11:41One of the first things that people notice is the inscription across the top.
11:46And that's in Latin.
11:47It tells us that Marcus Agrippa made this building when he was consul for the third time.
11:54Agrippa was the right-hand man of the emperor Augustus.
11:58And we know that he was responsible for the original Pantheon on this site.
12:05Rich Romans often inscribed their names on the civic buildings they commissioned.
12:11But something here doesn't add up.
12:15The Pantheon we see today is built more than 150 years after the original structure.
12:22By that time, Augustus and Agrippa are long dead.
12:31Hidden in the walls of the Pantheon are clues to the identity of its designer.
12:39Tile-shaped bricks carry the stamp of the manufacturer.
12:46And the names of the highest elected officials at the time.
12:52Some bricks in the rotunda date to the reign of Emperor Trajan.
12:58But others date to the time of the Emperor Hadrian.
13:04So who, if it's not Agrippa, is really the builder of the Pantheon we see today?
13:14Emperor Trajan rules 84 years after Augustus' death.
13:20But only a small number of the Pantheon's bricks date to his reign.
13:26Instead, the majority of the bricks date to Emperor Hadrian, Trajan's successor who rules 100 years after Augustus.
13:38To investigate if Hadrian is the builder of the Pantheon, Paolo Carraffa explores one of Hadrian's most famous creations.
13:48Hadrian's personal villa.
13:50It lies around 20 miles east of Rome, in Tivoli, and is the largest villa in the Roman Empire.
13:58Hadrian loved architecture. He trained himself as an architect.
14:02He had been involved in the creation of Miss Villa.
14:06But his construction projects reveal a much bigger ambition and pioneering ideas.
14:12Hadrian had a great vision of how architecture could strengthen and support his power.
14:19He enabled the architect to push the innovation forward to create larger and more complex buildings than ever before.
14:27Here at his villa, Hadrian experiments with his innovative designs.
14:32It covers more than 300 acres.
14:35With almost 1,000 rooms, including banqueting halls, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, and even underground parking for his chariots.
14:45The villa was the largest private residence ever built in the Roman Empire.
14:50It was twice as large as the whole city of Pompeii.
14:54The dimension and the lavishness are a clear indication of the immense power of the Roman Emperor.
15:01Does this villa conceal evidence that reveals Hadrian builds the Pantheon?
15:08To search for clues, Paolo heads to the Maritime Theater, Hadrian's private retreat within the grounds.
15:17The size of the theater is what intrigues Paolo and fellow archaeologist Fabio Cavallero.
15:25They use a state-of-the-art laser scanner to survey the site.
15:31We can start with the diameter of the pantheon.
15:34In the meantime we could start with the diameter of the pantheon.
15:37And in the meantime we can start with the diameter of the pantheon.
15:38All right, we need to start with the diameter.
15:40Fabio gets ready to start the scan.
15:47These high precision digital images allow Paolo and Fabio to compare the floor plan of
15:53the Pantheon to that of the Maritime Theater.
15:57What they discover is astonishing.
16:00The Maritime Theater has the same diameter of the interior of the Pantheon.
16:08This could be evidence that Hadrian is the designer of both buildings.
16:14To delve deeper, the team scans the entire villa looking for more similarities.
16:20Our survey creates point clouds to map every single corner of the villa.
16:27The survey pinpoints a structure with a semi-dome, the Canopus, that has even closer similarities
16:34with the Pantheon.
16:35Here we have an excellent example of Hadrian experiments with domes and semi-domes.
16:42These similarities are conclusive evidence that Hadrian builds the new Pantheon.
16:48We can see the fingerprints of this Emperor in the Pantheon and in Hadrian villa.
16:56But if Hadrian builds the Pantheon, why is Augustus' friend Agrippa's name on the front of the building?
17:05Valerie thinks a clue may lie in what Romans think of Hadrian and his great predecessor.
17:12Hadrian was quite disliked in his own time.
17:15By the second century, people are thinking that nobody since Augustus had really matched up to him.
17:26The Romans see Augustus as the epitome of a successful leader.
17:31In 27 BC, he becomes the very first Emperor of Rome.
17:38Augustus rapidly expands the Empire, conquering Egypt, Central Europe, and Northern Spain.
17:49But when Hadrian becomes emperor, he halts the rapid expansion.
17:53He believes that the Empire must protect its borders.
17:59He builds monumental defenses, like the famous Hadrian's Wall across Britain.
18:05But this conservative approach doesn't make him popular.
18:11To win the Romans over, Hadrian devises a plan.
18:15Hadrian thought that he could raise his status with the Roman people to portray himself as a second Augustus.
18:24So he decides to imprint on the facade of the Pantheon the name of Augustus' great friend, Agrippa.
18:31Hadrian tries to emulate Augustus by rebuilding the Pantheon and making an obvious reference to Augustus.
18:40Hadrian is the proud builder of the Pantheon we see today.
18:44But he's not finished with his mission to emulate Augustus.
18:49He makes one final monumental statement.
18:54In 123 AD, 15 years before his death,
18:58Hadrian builds his own tomb.
19:04Now called Castel Sant'Angelo,
19:07his mausoleum dominates the west bank of Rome's river Tiber,
19:11so no one can miss it.
19:14Hadrian's mausoleum, his lavish villa,
19:17and the Pantheon
19:19all reflect his vision for Rome and his impressive empire.
19:25Hadrian sets out to outbuild his predecessors.
19:29His Pantheon is bigger and better than the original.
19:34But how does Hadrian ensure his Pantheon won't burn down like Augustus'?
19:48The Pantheon
19:51is built by the ingenious Emperor Hadrian on the foundations of Augustus' original structure.
19:58But how does Hadrian ensure that his Pantheon is indestructible
20:03and won't burn down like his predecessors?
20:09Hadrian's Pantheon is still so perfectly preserved after almost 2,000 years.
20:16This area has been hit by earthquakes and struck by lightning.
20:21And yet, it's still here, intact.
20:25This is a real miracle of engineering.
20:32The outside of the Pantheon's walls is just bricks covered in plaster.
20:38Their real strength lies within.
20:41A rock-solid core of Roman concrete to support the roof.
20:50But building decorative niches and recesses into the walls creates weak spots.
20:55So Roman engineers build brick arches into the Pantheon.
21:02To channel the weight of the roof into the thicker parts.
21:08Is this clever combination of brick and concrete the secret to the survival of the Pantheon?
21:17Guido Giordano is an expert in ancient Roman building materials.
21:21He's on a mission to discover the secret to the concrete's incredible strength.
21:26The mortar is made of this whitish base and lots of these floating elements,
21:33very dark in color.
21:35And it's this particular component that makes this concrete so stronger than any other concrete.
21:44What is the secret component of this special concrete?
21:49Guido investigates the rocks that surround Rome for clues.
21:54In the grounds of Tor Morantia Park, Guido finds a distinctive rock formation.
22:01The result of ancient volcanic eruptions.
22:04These volcanic explosive eruptions were ten times larger than the one that buried Pompeii.
22:12Can rocks like this unlock the secret of Roman concrete?
22:20Guido finds a mysterious tunnel carved into the volcanic rock.
22:25He instantly recognizes this structure.
22:30This tunnel is part of a very extensive network that runs four kilometers underneath Rome,
22:37exploiting the underground.
22:39It's inside tunnels like these that the Romans discover the secret ingredient for their concrete.
22:48This tunnel is an ancient Roman quarry.
22:52This is where the Romans excavated the volcanic material for the concrete used to build the Pantheon.
23:00The secret ingredient of the Roman concrete is volcanic ash.
23:06This is loose, so very easy to be excavated, but also hard enough to hold a tunnel that is made
23:15of a wide variety of particle sizes that go from very fine ash to much larger volcanic slugs.
23:26And it is these variety of particle sizes that provide a very strong interlocking.
23:34This material is a game changer for the Romans.
23:38They learned to use volcanic ash instead of traditional quartz sand to make their mortar.
23:46Guido recreates the Roman concrete mix to test its properties.
23:53He starts with the volcanic ash.
23:59Then he mixes it with lime and water.
24:03So this is Roman concrete.
24:06This is what was used to build the Pantheon.
24:10You can see how easy it is to work it.
24:13It's very wet and it doesn't hold anything.
24:16But over time, the volcanic particles inside make very special kind of minerals that are not found in the classic,
24:30ordinary mortar.
24:32Now, to compare the mortar made with volcanic ash, he repeats the process, mixing lime with the traditional sand.
24:41This mimics the concrete used in the buildings before the Pantheon.
24:48We put the mortar on top and then we put another stone and wait.
25:00Two hours later, the two different mixtures have solidified and are ready to be put to the test.
25:07We already see a strong difference between these two.
25:10Here, the mortar is still very wet and ductile, whereas in this one, you can see that it has already
25:19hardened.
25:20This is the one made with the volcanic ash.
25:23The volcanic ash concrete is the clear winner.
25:27This material triggers a revolution in Roman construction.
25:31This will become the strongest link between these two pieces of rocks and the strongest mortar ever invented.
25:41This new concrete has one last crucial benefit.
25:45Roman concrete is so strong, it resists even to high temperatures in case of fires.
25:54This material is the reason this city's most magnificent buildings have survived for millennia.
26:03Hadrian's engineers create an indestructible pantheon that ensures he's remembered for eternity.
26:13But how do they build the seemingly impossible roof, the iconic dome?
26:28Right in the heart of Rome, the pantheon has the largest dome of its kind in the world.
26:35This hemispherical dome is the largest ever built, until reinforced concrete is invented at the beginning of the 20th century.
26:46Towering 100 feet above the streets of Rome, it stretches 142 feet across the pantheon.
26:54The walls at the base are 20 feet thick, and taper to just 5 feet at the apex, and the
27:01concrete inside them is cleverly adapted.
27:04At the bottom it contains crushed bricks, to make it strong, and at the top it contains fragments of pumice
27:12stone, to make it light.
27:14On the inside, cut-out recesses trim down the weight even more.
27:20But how do ancient Roman engineers actually build this colossal dome, a hundred feet off the ground?
27:31Giulia Iori is an expert in Roman construction.
27:43The enigma of the dome's construction inspires the Roman people to devise their own theory.
27:52Legend says that to build the dome, Hadrian creates a huge mound of earth and hides gold coins inside.
28:04He uses the mound of earth as an enormous mold, casting the pantheon's dome on top.
28:14Then he invites the citizens of Rome to remove the earth inside the pantheon, and keep all the coins they
28:22find.
28:31Giulia believes that instead the Romans invent a new construction technique to build the dome.
28:39Giulia uses cutting-edge 3D printing to investigate the dome's mysterious construction.
28:45She recreates a miniature version of the structure.
28:49A 3D printing printer reminds us a lot of the way the Romans built the pantheon's dome.
28:57The printing printer continues to add, step-by-step, step-by-step, step-by-step.
29:03Until the invention of reinforced concrete, most domes are assembled on the ground and lifted into place.
29:11But this colossal dome is constructed exactly where we see it today.
29:15How do the Romans manage this seemingly impossible feat?
29:20Giulia thinks they have two options.
29:26They could build an internal scaffolding from the ground up to support the dome from beneath.
29:33Or they could build one ring after another and hope that each ring will support the next one.
29:44But even when complete, the risk isn't over.
29:48The dome weighs a mighty 5,000 tons and could collapse under its own weight.
29:57Giulia uses a clay model of the dome to investigate the risk.
30:01She pushes down on the model to simulate the weight of the concrete.
30:07The pressure at the top creates tension at the bottom that eventually cracks the lower edge.
30:22How do the Romans ensure the dome doesn't collapse under its own weight?
30:27The key to the dome's survival lies in an ingenious engineering trick.
30:33To prevent the lower edge from cracking, the Romans secretly bury the bottom half of the dome inside the rotunda.
30:41This way, the pressure is contained by the walls and external step rings, ensuring the full stability of the structure.
30:57The Romans use these techniques to create a structure made to last for millennia.
31:16By building the Pantheon, Emperor Hadrian changes the landscape of Rome forever.
31:22And he creates one of the city's most iconic buildings.
31:27But why do Hadrian's engineers leave a gaping hole at the pinnacle?
31:32What is its purpose?
31:42The Pantheon is an engineering marvel.
31:45The unreinforced concrete dome at its top is the largest in history.
31:52At the pinnacle of the dome is an unusual feature called the Oculus.
31:57It's a 30-foot-wide hole that opens the Pantheon to the heavens, but also the elements.
32:05To deal with rain, the marble floor beneath gently curves like a bowl.
32:14It collects water and drains it through 22 cleverly concealed drainage holes.
32:21When the sun shines, the Oculus creates a beam of heavenly light that moves through the Pantheon.
32:28Where does Emperor Hadrian get the inspiration for this bold feature?
32:38This is what we are seeing on the screen.
32:39This is what we are seeing on the screen.
32:40It's the front of us, Fabio.
32:43Archaeologist Paolo Coraffa examines another Oculus in the ruins of Hadrian's famous villa
32:48to investigate this mystery.
32:52This miniature Oculus, just three feet wide, has a surprising purpose.
32:58These are the great baths.
33:00This was the hottest room in the bath, like a steaming room.
33:04And it was covered by a dome with an Oculus in it, exactly like the dome of the Pantheon.
33:11Today, half of this dome is missing.
33:14But Paolo's reconstruction leads him to believe the Oculus plays a critical functional role in this structure.
33:21We can imagine people sitting on the benches all around this wall,
33:25with the steam flowing out of the hole in the dome.
33:29Here, the function of the Oculus is to let the steam from the baths out through the hole in the
33:35ceiling.
33:37The Oculus is a key feature of Roman baths for nearly a century before Hadrian creates his in his villa.
33:45The Temple of Mercury bathing hall in the nearby spa town of Baia has one of the largest oculi of
33:52its time.
33:54But in all Roman baths, the dome and Oculus are always part of a larger complex of bathing pools.
34:03The buildings never stand alone like the Pantheon.
34:07And no Oculus has ever spanned so wide.
34:10The Pantheon's super-sized Oculus is twice as wide as that in the Temple of Mercury.
34:17So what is its purpose?
34:20In the Pantheon, the Oculus is a void space created to sustain the whole dome.
34:28Hadrian's engineers use their Oculus to reduce the weight of the dome.
34:33This makes the largest dome in the world at that time a reality.
34:38Then they use the effect the Oculus creates to give the Pantheon an ethereal, heavenly aura.
34:45But Hadrian goes one step further.
34:48His engineers expertly design the orientation of the Oculus and the door
34:53to align with the Sun each year on April 21st, Rome's birthday.
35:00When he enters the Pantheon, Hadrian is bathed in awe-inspiring light.
35:05It makes him appear almost divine.
35:08The spectacle amazes the people inside.
35:12No other building in the whole of ancient Rome has ever created the same effect.
35:19How does Hadrian formulate such a sophisticated design?
35:23Hadrian traveled a lot.
35:26He traveled all through the Empire.
35:28And he claimed he was the only Emperor to have seen every place in his Empire.
35:36Do Hadrian's travels across his Empire also inspire the Pantheon?
35:45In his youth, Hadrian is nicknamed Graeclus, meaning Greekling,
35:50because he likes to immerse himself in Greek studies.
35:54As emperor, he frequently visits Greece.
35:58He admires the culture and architecture,
36:01and sponsors the construction of grand temples there.
36:07In return, the Athenians build him a grand arch,
36:12naming him as a co-founder of their city.
36:17Back in Rome, he builds a lecture hall called the Athenaeum
36:21to promote the Greek way of thinking among Romans.
36:30Hadrian wants to make Rome in some way the inheritor of the culture of Athens,
36:37to leave it as his legacy.
36:40Hadrian's Greek legacy is secretly embedded into the design of the Pantheon.
36:46He uses scientific principles developed by the Greeks
36:50to design the Pantheon with perfect symmetry.
36:54This faultless design gives it a sense of supreme harmony.
37:00Hadrian creates a building filled with Greek features,
37:03a record-breaking oculus,
37:05and made of indestructible materials.
37:08But how is the Pantheon used when Hadrian no longer rules Rome?
37:21The powerful Emperor Hadrian creates the Pantheon
37:25to fulfill his vision of a world ruled by Greek harmony and beauty.
37:30But what happens to the Pantheon after Hadrian's death in 138 AD?
37:37The magnificent building is used as an audience hall
37:41for more than four centuries.
37:43But in 608 AD,
37:46after the advance of Christianity,
37:48Emperor Focus transforms the Pantheon into a church.
38:06For 14 centuries to this day,
38:10the Pantheon remains a Catholic Church.
38:12Throughout this time,
38:14it's been a constant source of inspiration.
38:18Renaissance engineer Filippo Brunelleschi
38:21spends 10 years in Rome,
38:23studying the Pantheon to unlock its secrets.
38:27When he returns to Florence,
38:30he builds the dome of Santa Maria del Fiori Cathedral.
38:34The dome has a diameter of 147 feet.
38:38Its dimensions exceed the Pantheon's immense clear span.
38:43A hundred years later,
38:45Michelangelo draws inspiration from the Pantheon
38:48for the iconic brick dome of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.
38:53But the influence of the Pantheon travels much further than Italy.
38:59The Rotunda at the University of Virginia is built in 1822.
39:04It's designed by U.S. President Thomas Jefferson,
39:07who is inspired by the Pantheon.
39:09It is the focal point of the school.
39:14Jefferson is an architecture enthusiast,
39:16just like Hadrian.
39:18The Jefferson Memorial,
39:20built in the 1940s,
39:22is a tribute to one of the founding fathers,
39:25as well as to his architectural designs.
39:30And right in the heart of Washington, D.C.,
39:33the Pantheon is forever remembered
39:35in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol,
39:38the ultimate symbol of democratic government in the world.
39:44The Pantheon symbolizes a type of architecture
39:48that has been used throughout the world
39:50to indicate public buildings
39:53that carry great weight
39:55and that are hugely important for the nation.
39:58Today, the Pantheon remains one of the most famous symbols of Rome.
40:05Hadrian's legacy is long-lasting.
40:08The Pantheon continues to awe all that enter its doors.
40:14But once a year,
40:15his oculus finds a new purpose.
40:18On the day of the Pentecost,
40:20the firefighters of the fire
40:21make the red red petals fall
40:24inside the building,
40:26after the meeting.
40:27And the effect is really spectacular.
40:30It's magic.
40:32From religious to public buildings,
40:34this mighty structure
40:36has been a constant symbol of innovation.
40:39Emperor Hadrian uses his villa
40:42to trial ingenious engineering feats
40:45and draws on buildings from across his empire
40:48to create the ultimate monument,
40:51built to last forever.
40:52This building is the best-preserved Roman building
40:56that we have.
40:57And it shows us the genius,
41:00the spirit of Roman architecture.
41:06The Pantheon is one of Rome's
41:08most astonishing achievements.
41:10An engineering marvel
41:12with a record-breaking roof.
41:15Roman concrete at its heart.
41:19And clues to its past
41:21hiding beneath its foundations.
41:24The iconic Pantheon
41:26still stands strong
41:27at the heart of Rome,
41:29connecting the past and present
41:31of this eternal city.
42:03The
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