Pantheon

This is the dome in the pantheon - its huge. They say it is incredible that this dome was even built because we didn't know they had this kind of technology back then. Apparently, its almost impossible to build a dome of this size made out of bricks today, and we really don't know how they did it. Personally, I think we sell the people of the past short all the time.

Here's the story. A king of Italy had many people looking for the remains of Rafael, so he could be buried here. People looked and looked and looked, but to no avail - they couldn't find him (though how they knew whose bones were whose, I couldn't tell you). Finally, the king said that if they didn't find him by the next day, they were going to give up the search. That night, the king had a dream that the remains of Rafael were the only remains on top of this certain hill. They next day, they checked the hill, and lo and behold, they were the only bones on the hill. Coincedence or message from God? It doesn't really matter because whoever it is is now buried at the Pantheon under Rafael's name.

The Pantheon was built as a temple to the gods of ancient Rome - it was rebuilt in early 2nd century AD. In order to save the building from destruction, they converted it into a cathedral. Again, lots of marble, lots of paintings. At this site, they have the tombs of the first two Italian kings and Rafael - or so they say.