Part 17 (1/2)
”It is going to rain,” said he, ”and so we shall be obliged to ride. But we can make it longer by stopping to see something on the way.”
”Well,” said Allie, ”let's do it. What shall we stop to see?”
”If there is going to be a shower,” said Rollo, ”it would be a good time to stop and see the Pantheon.”
”What is the Pantheon?” asked Allie.
”It is an immense round church, with a great hole in the roof,” replied Rollo.
”Why don't they mend the hole?” asked Charles.
”O, they made it so on purpose,” said Rollo.
”Made it on purpose!” repeated Allie. ”I never heard of such a thing. I should think the rain would come in.”
”It does come in,” said Rollo, ”and that is the reason why I want to go and see the Pantheon in the time of a shower. It is so curious to see the rain falling down slowly to the pavement. You see, the church is round, and there is a dome over it, and in the centre of the dome they left a great round hole.”
”How big?” asked Allie.
”It is twenty-eight feet across,” said Rollo; ”but you would not think it so big when you come to see it. It is up so high that it looks very small. We know how big it is by the size of the wet spot on the floor.”
By the time that the party had arrived at this point in the conversation, Rollo saw a carriage standing in the street at a little distance before him, and he made a signal to the coachman to come to him. The coachman came. Rollo made his bargain with him, and they all got in. The coachman drove immediately to the Pantheon, and they arrived there just as the shower began to come on.
Before the church was an immense portico, supported by columns. The columns, and the whole entablature which they supported, were darkened by time, and cracked, and chipped, and broken in the most remarkable manner. Allie and Charles stood under the portico and looked around, while Rollo paid the coachman.
[Ill.u.s.tration: INTERIOR OF THE PANTHEON.]
There was a large open square before the Pantheon, with an ancient and very remarkable looking fountain in the centre of it. There was a basin around this fountain, into which monstrous mouths, carved in marble, were spouting water. When Rollo had paid the coachman, he led the way into the church. Allie and Charles followed him. They found themselves ushered into an immense circular interior, with rows of columns all around the sides, and chapels, and sculptures, and paintings, and beautiful panels of variegated marbles between them.
Overhead was an immense dome. This dome is nearly a hundred and fifty feet high, and the circular opening in the centre of it is about thirty feet across. Through this opening the rain was descending in a steady but gentle shower. It was very curious to look up and see the innumerable drops falling slowly from the bright opening above, down to the marble floor. This opening is the only window. There is no other place, as you will see by the engraving, where light can come in.
The margin of the opening is formed of an immense bra.s.s ring. Such a ring is necessary in a structure like this, and it must be of great thickness and strength, to resist the pressure of the stones crowding in upon it all around.
This Pantheon was built by the ancient Romans, two thousand years ago.
What it was built for originally n.o.body now knows. In modern times it has been changed into a church. It is immensely large, being nearly a hundred and fifty feet in diameter, and a hundred and fifty feet high.
If you will inquire and ascertain what is the size of some large building in your vicinity, and compare it with these dimensions, you will form a clearer idea of the magnitude of this ancient edifice than you can acquire in any other way.
Rollo and his party rambled about the Pantheon, looking at the statues, and paintings, and chapels, and observing the groups of pilgrims and of visitors that were continually coming and going, for nearly an hour. By this time the shower had entirely pa.s.sed away, and the sun having come out bright, they all walked home.
CHAPTER IX.
GOING TO OSTIA.
While Rollo was at Rome, he made the acquaintance of a boy named Copley.
Copley was an English boy, and he was about a year older than Rollo.
Rollo first saw him at the door of the hotel, as he, Copley, was dismounting from his horse, on his return from a ride which he had been taking into the country. He had been attended on his ride by a servant man named Thomas. Thomas dismounted from his horse first, and held the bridle of Copley's horse while Copley dismounted.