Tuesday, April 27, 2021

The oldest door still in use in Rome, Pantheon. Cast in bronze for emperor Hadrian's rebuilding, they date from about 115 AD. Each door is solid bronze seven and a half feet wide & twenty-five feet high, yet so well balanced they can be pushed or pulled open easily by one person.

 


10 comments:

  1. How much raw material did it take to make these doors? How big was the kettle to melt all that raw material? Where did they pour all that material? What forms did they use?
    So many questions........

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  2. Within the last couple of days, my wife and I were talking about how buildings in Florida that are older than a hundred years old are really unusual, and modern strip malls seem to collapse in 20 or 30 years.

    Over there, a building that's as old as the oldest settlements in the US isn't even worth noticing.

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  3. A lot to be said about Roman work. So much to see and learn.

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  4. Balance is one thing and bearings are another.
    No matter how well balanced you still have the weight to contend with and with poor bearings it will be difficult to budge. I'd like to take a look at those bearings. I'm betting they are the roller type.

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  5. The concrete dome is still intact, which is even more impressive.

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  6. Actually as a guy who hangs doors for a living would love to see them in person

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  7. Pintles and gudgeons and leverage. I imagine the bushings wear and get replaced from time to time.

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  8. Well, that's an open and shut case....

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