List of Roman domes

This is a list of Roman domes. The Romans were the first builders in the history of architecture to realize the potential of domes for the creation of large and well-defined interior spaces.[1] Domes were introduced in a number of Roman building types such as temples, thermae, palaces, mausolea and later also churches. Semi-domes also became a favoured architectural element and were adopted as apses in Christian church architecture.

The Pantheon in Rome. Largest dome in the world for more than 1,300 years

Oculus of the Pantheon.

Monumental domes began to appear in the 1st century BC in Rome and the provinces around the Mediterranean Sea. Along with vaults and trusses, they gradually replaced the traditional post and lintel construction which makes use of the column and architrave. The construction of domes was greatly facilitated by the invention of concrete, a process which has been termed the Roman Architectural Revolution.[2] Their enormous dimensions remained unsurpassed until the introduction of structural steel frames in the late 19th century (see List of largest domes).[1][3][4]

Domes

All diameters are clear span in m; for polygonal domes applies to the in-circle diameter. Main source is Jürgen Rasch's study of Roman domes (1985).

Diameter ⌀ (m)	Name, Part	Location	Built	Shape of dome, Ground plan	Material, Roof construction	Shell Thickness ST  (m) ST to ⌀	Curtain Wall Thickness CWT  (m) CWT to ⌀	Diameter Oculus DO (m) DO to ⌀	Comments/ Other Characteristics
~ 43.45 [5]	Pantheon	Rome	~ 126 AD	Rotunda	Concrete, Lead plate roofing	~ 1.35 ~ 1:32	~ 5.93 ~ 1:7.3	~ 8.95 ~ 1:4.9	Largest dome of the world until 1881; largest unreinforced solid concrete dome in the world till present;[6] archetype of Western dome construction to this day[3][7]
~ 38.20 [8]	Temple of Apollo	Lake Avernus	~ 1st c.
~ 35.08 [4]	Baths of Caracalla, Caldarium	Rome	~ 3rd c.		Amphoras				Eight pillars; largest dome of the world out of ceramic hollowware
~ 29.50 [9]	Temple of Diana	Baiae	~ 2nd c.			~ 1.20 ~ 1:25	~ 5,70 [10] ~ 1:5.2
~ 26.30 [9]	Temple of Venus	Baiae	~ 2nd c.			~ -	~ 2.90 [11] ~ 1:9.1		Outer wall pillars
~ 25.04 [12]	Mausoleum of Maxentius	Rome	~ 4th c.	Rotunda
~ 25.00 [13]	Baths of Agrippa, 'Arco della Ciambella'	Rome	~ 1st c. BC	Rotunda					First Thermae in Rome with central dome;[13] largest dome of the world
~ 24.15 [9]	Arch of Galerius and Rotunda	Thessaloniki	~ 4th c.		Brick	~ 1 ~ 1:24	~ 6.00 ~ 1:4		Largest brick dome of the world
~ 23.85 [9]	Sanctuary of Asclepius	Pergamon	~ 2nd c.		Brick	~ -	~ 3.35 ~ 1:7.1		Earliest monumental brick dome;[14] largest brick dome of the world
~ 23.70 to ~ 19.80 [15]	St. Gereon's Basilica	Cologne	~ 4th c.	Oval with eight niches and apse					Later medieval structure with Roman building fabric largest occidental dome between Hagia Sophia and Florence Cathedral[16]
~ 23.65 [9]	Temple of Minerva Medica	Rome	~ 4th c.	Decagon	Concrete with brick ribs	~ 0.56 ~ 1:42	~ 2.60 [11] ~ 1:9.1		Outer wall pillars
~ 22.00 [17]	Baths of Antoninus	Carthage	~ 2nd c.	Polygon					Seven domes with diameters between 17 and 22 m[17]
~ 22.00 [18]	Rotunda at the Hippodrome	Constantinople	~ 5th c.	Rotunda with ten niches
~ 22.00 [19]	Baths of Diocletian, San Bernardo	Rome	~ 300		Concrete with brick ribs
~ 21.65 or ~ 21.25 [20][21]	Baths of Diocletian, 'Planetarium'	Rome	~ 300	Umbrella dome, Octagon	Concrete with inner brick covering			~ 4.20 ~ 1:5.1
~ 21.55 [21]	Temple of Mercury	Baiae	~ 1st c. BC		Concrete[22]			~ 3.65 ~ 1:5.9	Earliest monumental dome;[23] largest dome of the world
~ 20.18 [9]	Mausoleum of Helena	Rome	~ 4th c.		Ceramic amphora incorporated into dome's base	~ 0.90 ~ 1:22	~ 2.40 ~ 1:8.4
~ 19.80 [20]	Baths of Caracalla, Side building	Rome	~ 3rd c.	Octagon					Preliminary form of the pendentive dome[20]
~ 19.40 [20]	Baths of Bacucco	Near Viterbo	~ 4th c.	Umbrella dome, Octagon
~ 19.30 [21]	Baths of Diocletian, Tepidarium	Rome	~ 300					~ 3.68 ~ 1:5.2
~ 18.38 [9]	Pantheon	Ostia	~ 3rd c.			~ -	~ 1.98 ~ 1:9.3
~ 18.00 [15]	Church of Euphemia	Constantinople	~ 5th c.	Hexagon
~ 16.75 [24]	Hadrian's Villa, 'Serapeum'	Tivoli	~ 2nd c.	Umbrella dome	Concrete				Hollow space system
~ 16.45 [17]	Imperial Baths, Tepidarium	Trier	~ 4th c.		Concrete
~ 15.70 [17]	Basilica of San Vitale	Ravenna	~ 6th c.		Clay pipe, Wooden roof construction
~ 15.60 [21]	Nymphaeum in Albano Laziale	?	~ 1st c.		Concrete			~ 2.08 ~ 1:7.6	Earliest evidence for hollow spaces at dome's base for reduction in weight[25]
~ 15.00 to ~ 13.00 [14]	Southern baths	Bosra	~ 3rd-4th c.	Octagon	Concrete
~ 15.00 [15]	Western baths	Jerash	~ 2nd c.	Square	Voussoir				One of the earliest stone domes with square plan;[15] largest stone dome of the world
~ 14.70 [9]	Heroon of Romulus at the Roman Forum	Rome	~ 4th c.		Lead plate roofing	~ 0.90 ~ 1:16	~ 1.80 ~ 1:8.2	~ 3,70 ~ 1:4.0
~ 14.50 [9]	Temple of Portunus	Porto	~ 3rd c.		Concrete with inner brick covering	~ -	~ 2.20 ~ 1:6.6
~ 13.71 [9]	Mausoleum of Tor de' Schiavi	Via Prenestina	~ 4th c.			~ 0.60 ~ 1:23	~ 2.60 ~ 1:5.3		Four openings at dome's base
~ 13.48 [23]	Domus Aurea	Rome	~ 1st c.	Cloister vault, Octagon	Concrete			~ 5.99 ~ 1:2.3	First dome with octagonal plan; earliest in palace architecture[23]
~ 13.35 [9]	Mausoleum of Diocletian	Split	~ 300		Brick, Tiled roof	~ 0.68 ~ 1:20	~ 3.40 [10] ~ 1:3.9		Double-walled dome[12]
~ 12.90 [12]	Chapel of Saint Aquilino	Milan	~ 4th c.		Brick
~ 12.33 [26]	Tempio della Tosse	Tivoli	~ 4th c.		Concrete with brick ribs	~ 1.30 ~ 1:9	~ 2.08 ~ 1:5.9	~ 2.10 ~ 1:5.9
~ 12.00 [19]	Hadrian's Villa, Summer Triclinium (Exedra)	Tivoli	~ 2nd c.		Concrete with inner brick covering
~ 12.00 [17]	Baths of Aquae Flavianae	El Hammam	~ 3rd c.		Clay pipes				Largest dome of the world out of ceramic hollowware
~ 12.00 [15]	Church of Hodegetria	Constantinople	~ 5th c.	Hexagon
~ 12.00 [15]	Skeuophylakion	Constantinople	~ 5th c.	Dodecagon
~ 11.90 [9]	Baptistery	Nocera Superiore Campania	~ 6th c.						Eight rectangular dome windows
~ 11.90 [27]	Hadrian's Villa, 'Heliocaminus'	Tivoli	~ 2nd c.						Double-walled dome with spacing for ceiling heating[27]
~ 11.50 [28]	Red Basilica	Pergamon	~ 2nd c.		Brick				Two Rotunda; largest brick dome of the world
~ 11.50 [26]	Santa Costanza	Rome	~ 4th c.		Concrete with brick ribs, Tiled roof directly resting on dome shell	~ 0.70 ~ 1:16	~ 1.45 ~ 1:7.9		Tambour[29]
~ 11.50 [15]	Mor Gabriel Monastery	Tur Abdin	~ 6th c.		Brick			~ yes
~ 11.47 [26]	Praetorium	Cologne	~ 4th c.	Octagon		~ -	~ 2.00 [10] ~ 1:5.7
~ 11.10 [26]	Gordian's Villa	Rome, Via Prenestina	~ 3rd c.	Octagon		~ -	~ 1.35 [10] ~ 1:8.2		Preliminary form of the pendentive dome;[20] eight openings at dome's base
~ 11.00 [4]	Therme d’Allance	?	~ ?
~ 10.80 [26]	Mausoleum of Gallien	Rome, Via Appia	~ 3rd c.	Rotunda with six niches		~ -	~ 1.60 ~ 1:6.8
~ 10.70 [26]	Mausoleum of Centocelle	Centcelles, near Tarragona	~ 4th c.		Brick and stone	~ 0.40 ~ 1:27	~ 1.90 ~ 1:5.6
~ 10.40 to 1~ 9.40 [24]	Hadrian's Villa, small baths	Tivoli	~ 2nd c.	Elliptical dome with wavelike rim
~ 10.00 [24]	Gordian's Villa, Hall	Via Prenestina	~ 2nd c.
~ 10.00 [25]	Villa delle Vignacce	Via Latina	~ 2nd c.		Ceramic amphora at dome's base				Earliest known use of amphora at dome's base[25]
~ 19.85 [17]	Cathedral, Baptistery	Ravenna	~ 5th c.
~ 19.50 [30]	Rotunda of St. George, Sofia,	Sofia	~early 4th c.	Rotunda					Built by the Romans in the 4th century, it is a cylindrical domed structure built on a square base.
1~ 9.50 [20]	Hadrian's Villa, Piazza d'Oro (vestibule)	Tivoli	~ 2nd c.	Umbrella dome				~ 1,90 ~ 1:5.0
1~ 9.50 [18]	Praetextat catacomb, 'Calventier tomb'	Rome	~ 3rd c.	Rotunda with six niches
1~ 9.00 [14]	Capito Thermae, Laconicum	Miletus	~ 1st c.		Concrete
1~ 9.00 [15]	Small Roundtemple	Baalbek	~ 3rd c.
1~ 8.50 [18]	Domus Augustana	Rome	~ 1st c.	Cloister vault, Octagon					One of the earliest cloister vaults with octagonal curtain walls[18]
~ 18.10 [26]	Torraccio del Palombaro	Rome, Via Appia	~ 4th c.			~ 0.90 ~ 1:9	~ 2,30 ~ 1:3.5	~ 1.50 ~ 1:5.4
1~ 7.70 [20]	Baths of Maxentius	Rome	~ 4th c.	Umbrella dome, Octagon
~ 17.60 [4]	Domus Flavia	Rome	~ 1st c.
1~ 7.60 to 1~ 6.20 [18]	Hadrian's Villa, 'Heliocaminus'	?	~ 2nd c.	Cloister vault, Uneven octagon
1~ 6.80 [15]	Nymphaeum	Riza, Epirus	~ 250-350	Dodecagon
1~ 6.75 [20]	Temple of Venus, Annex building	Baiae	~ 2nd c.	Flat umbrella dome, Octagon
~ 16.65 [21]	Hall of Thermae Pisa	?	~ 2nd c.	Cloister vault with eight windows, Octagon				~ 2.00 ~ 1:3.3
~ 16.52 [23]	Stabian Thermae, Laconicum	Pompeii	~ 1st c. BC	Cone vault (early form of the dome)	Concrete			~ yes	Oldest known concrete domes[23]
1~ 6.00 [17]	Hunting Thermae	Leptis Magna	~ 200	Cloister vault with eight windows
~ 15.86 [17]	Arch of Marcus Aurelius	Tripoli	~ ?	Cloister vault	Voussoir
1~ 5.70 [9]	Water Castellum	Pompeii	~30 BC- ~14 AD	Flat dome
~ 15.40 [20]	Octagon near 'Temple of Mercury'	Baiae	~ 2nd c.	Umbrella dome, Octagon
1~ 5.40 [12]	San Vitale, Stair towers	Ravenna	~ 6th c.		Brick
~ 15.20 [15]	Sedia del Diavolo, Tomb	Rome, Via Nomentana	~ 2nd c.	Square
1~ 4.70 [18]	Tabularium	Rome	~ 1st c. BC	Cloister vault, Square					Earliest cloister vault[15]
~ 14.41 [24]	Temple of Venus, Annex building	Baiae	~ 2nd c.	Umbrella dome above circular ground plan				~ 0.59 ~ 1:7.5
1~ 4.40 [31]	Mausoleum of Galla Placidia	Ravenna	~ 5th c.		Tiled roof
1~ 4.00 [9]	Tomb at Casal de' Pazzi	Rome, Via Nomentana	~ 2nd c.	In-circle dome, Square	Concrete				Preform of pendentive dome;[9] hollow space system
~ 11.65 [23]	Villa of the Mysteries, Laconicum	Pompeii	~ 1st c. BC	Cone vault (early form of the dome)	Brick and clay (upper calotte)				Concrete wall shell[32]
~ ? [18]	Mausoleum of Constantine at the Church of the Holy Apostles	Constantinople	~ 4th c.	Presumably Rotunda with twelve niches

Half-domes

Diameter ⌀	Name, Part	Location	Built	Shape of dome, Ground plan	Material, Roof construction	Shell thickness (ST) ST to ⌀	Curtain wall thickness (CWT) CWT to ⌀	Comments/ Other characteristics
~ 30.00 [5]	Baths of Trajan	Rome	~ ?					Largest dome(s) of the world
~ 22.00 [5]	Baths of Diocletian, Two apse halls	Rome	~ 300
~ 18.50 [5]	Trajan's Forum	Rome	~ ?
~ 15.80 [17]	Santi Cosma e Damiano, Apse	Rome	~ 6th c.
~ 11.00 [14]	Nymphaeum	Jerash	~ 2nd c.		Concrete
1~ 9.60 [14]	Basilica, Apse	Bostra	~ 3rd c.		Concrete, inside covered with ashlar
1~ 8.00 [14]	Cathedral, Annex rooms	Bostra	~ 6th c.		Concrete
1~ 5.70 [12]	Pantheon, Front niches	Rome	~ 2nd c.

See also

• Record-holding domes in antiquity
• List of world's largest domes
• List of Domes in France
• History of Roman and Byzantine domes
• Ancient Roman architecture
• History of early and simple domes

References

1. Rasch 1985, p. 117
2. Lechtman & Hobbs 1986
3. Mark & Hutchinson 1986, p. 24
4. Heinle & Schlaich 1996, p. 27
5. Rasch 1985, p. 119
6. Romanconcrete.com
7. Müller 2005, p. 253
8. Bishop 1977, p. 92
9. Rasch 1985, p. 129
10. Corner
11. Pillar
12. Rasch 1985, p. 123
13. Heinz 1983, pp. 60–64
14. Rasch 1985, p. 125
15. Rasch 1985, p. 126
16. Schäfke 1985, pp. 100 & 118
17. Rasch 1985, p. 124
18. Rasch 1985, p. 127
19. Rasch 1985, p. 138
20. Rasch 1985, p. 130
21. Rasch 1985, p. 136
22. Mark & Hutchinson 1986, p. 33
23. Rasch 1985, p. 118
24. Rasch 1985, p. 133
25. Rasch 1985, p. 135
26. Rasch 1985, p. 128
27. Rasch 1985, p. 139
28. Rasch 1985, p. 137
29. Rasch 1985, p. 120
30. [http://bulgariatravel.org/en/object/344/Rotonda_Sveti_Georgi
31. Rasch 1985, p. 134
32. Rasch 1985, p. 122

Sources

Main source

• Rasch, Jürgen (1985), "Die Kuppel in der römischen Architektur. Entwicklung, Formgebung, Konstruktion", Architectura, 15, pp. 117–139

Further sources

• Bishop, John (1977), "The Pantheon: Design, Meaning, and Progeny (Review)", Art Journal, 37 (1), p. 92
• Heinle, Erwin; Schlaich, Jörg (1996), Kuppeln aller Zeiten, aller Kulturen, Stuttgart, ISBN 3-421-03062-6
• Heinz, Werner (1983), Römische Thermen. Badewesen und Badeluxus im römischen Reich, München, pp. 60–64, ISBN 3-7774-3540-6
• Lechtman, Heather; Hobbs, Linn (1986), "Roman Concrete and the Roman Architectural Revolution. Ceramics and Civilization", in Kingery, W. D. (ed.), High Technology Ceramics: Past, Present, Future, 3, American Ceramics Society
• Mark, Robert; Hutchinson, Paul (1986), "On the Structure of the Roman Pantheon", Art Bulletin, 68 (1), pp. 24–34, doi:10.2307/3050861, JSTOR 3050861
• Müller, Werner (2005), dtv-Atlas Baukunst I. Allgemeiner Teil: Baugeschichte von Mesopotamien bis Byzanz (14th ed.), München, ISBN 3-423-03020-8
• Schäfke, Werner (1985), Kölns romanische Kirchen. Architektur, Ausstattung, Geschichte (5th ed.), Köln, ISBN 3-7701-1360-8

External links

• Traianus — Technical investigation of Roman public works
• The Roman Pantheon: The Triumph of Concrete