pantheon in the rain. apologies for the cliche. they have cleaned the dome since and it all looks like it was built yesterday rather than 1900 years ago.
now this picture is a cliche and a document.
Tags: rom rome roma architecture arkitektur dome pantheon concrete skylight oculus italy arquitectura Architektur arquitetura Architettura Architectuur roman building gebäude haus gebouw bouw bygning batiment maison edificio huis casa seier+seier creative commons CC
main street, cardo maximus, and market of roman apamea in central syria.
after archaeologists from belgium and syria have reerected many of the original columns that lined the street, apamea has become one of the best places to experience the nobility of roman urbanism.
interestingly, the columns vary greatly along the street.
Tags: apamea syria syrien roman rome romersk architecture arkitektur ruins ruin main street cardo maximus market colonnade Syrie architektur Arquitectura arquitetura Architectuur Architettura building gebäude haus gebouw bouw bygning batiment maison edificio huis casa seier+seier creative commons CC
the fertile plains surrounding apamea are dotted with danish cows, one for every family. I can only imagine it must be part of some development project. together with the lush green and the larks, it made the place seem oddly familiar.
when we saw the local girls carrying buckets of water to their cows, it positively looked like a romantic 19th century painting of danish rural life.
with great ruins.
if the germanic tribal leaders hadn't teamed up to beat the romans so badly in 9AD that they gave up on northern europe, denmark could have looked like this today.
more words, yada, yada, yada.
Tags: apamea qalaat mudiq syria syrien middle east mellemøsten roman architecture arkitektur ruins ruin dansk malkerace cow cattle main street cardo maximus market colonnade Syrie architektur Arquitectura arquitetura Architectuur Architettura building gebäude haus gebouw bouw bygning batiment maison edificio huis casa seier+seier creative commons CC
second century AD roman theatre in bosra.
the theatre was preserved mainly because it was transformed into an arab citadel. even today, you arrive at an imposing fortress with no trace of the original building to be seen. only the ends of columns, used as ties in the thick walls, give away its roman pedigree...
the stage and seating was gradually filled with sand over the centuries which contributed immensely to the state of preservation.
back in copenhagen, I found an old german etching of the place in which only the top 6 rows of seats are visible.
the theatre was only dug out in the 20th century and it is not yet as famous as it should be. as shown above, all the other guests there were syrian school children. they tour the sights of their own country and they were always great fun to meet even if their english was limited to "whatsyourname?".
the columns, centre-left, are reconstructions and don't stand up to closer inspection. I believe we ran into some of the originals in the mosque of umar (a few pictures down from this one) - the real second century columns and capitals you see here in southern syria are exquisite.
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more from our trip to syria.
more words, yada, yada, yada.
Tags: bousra bosra syria syrien roman architecture arkitektur theatre theater Syrie architektur Arquitectura arquitetura Architectuur Architettura building gebäude haus gebouw bouw bygning batiment maison edificio huis casa seier+seier creative commons CC
the plastico in museo della civiltà romana, E.U.R., showing rome around the time of emporer constantine.
the great interest of the fascists in everything roman was all about justifying their imperialist ambitions. the destruction of the great fora and the many heavy-handed restorations prove how superficial the appreciation really was.
however, based on the great Forma Urbis Romae of 1901 by rodolfo lanciani, the plastico is the finest thing in all of E.U.R.
sights.seindal.dk/sight/290_Lanciani_Forma_Urbis_Romae.html
I found at the time, and still do, that the enormous model is seriously at odds with the surrounding E.U.R. ... classical rome was highly complex, E.U.R. simplistic; axiality in rome was local, in E.U.R. it is global.
the very people claiming to be the heirs of classical rome and who commissioned the plastico to prove it, seemingly forgot to study the result of their commission.
Tags: rom rome roma architecture arkitektur fascism model plastico late antiquity arquitectura Architektur arquitetura Architettura Architectuur Benito Mussolini il duce fascist fascismo razionalista seier+seier creative commons CC