GLORIOUS DOMES: FROM THE PANTHEON TO THE TAJ MAHAL
Stories of impressive domes: Hadrian’s Pantheon in Rome boasts the world’s largest concrete
dome, while the brick dome of St. Sophia in Constantinople, commissioned by 6C emperor
Justinian, is a Byzantine masterpiece. A thousand years later Ottoman architect Sinan strove to emulate its genius in the mosques he designed for his sultanic masters. In Samarkand, a brilliant blue ribbed double dome rises over the 15C mausoleum of Tamerlane, the precursor to the domes of the Mughals, including the Taj Mahal in Agra, clad in marble and resembling a large pearl, a fitting crown to a magnificent monument to earthly love