The oculus of the dome

The Pantheon in Rome was commissioned by Marcus Agrippa in 27 BC as a temple to all the gods of Ancient Rome, and rebuilt by Emperor Hadrian in about 126 AD. The building is circular in shape with a portico which consists of three rows of gigantic granite Corinthian columns . The rotunda is under a concrete dome, that has a central opening (oculus) to the sky. Even though it was built nearly two thousand years ago, the Pantheon's dome remains the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome. The dome's thickness varies from 21 feet at the base of the dome to 13.9 feet at the oculus.

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