The most beautiful domes on Earth 🧵 1. Church of St. Joachim's starry dome, Rome

The most beautiful domes on Earth 🧵 1. Church of St. Joachim's starry dome, Rome

2. The Pantheon, Rome Nearly two millennia since its construction, the Pantheon's dome is still the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome. Roman concrete's longevity comes from "self-healing" lime clasts that dissolve in water and recrystallize to repair cracks.

3. Santissima Annunziata's dome, Florence

4. Medici Chapels The Chapel of the Princes, located within the Medici Chapels in Florence, serves as the mausoleum of the Grand Dukes of Tuscany. Every detail here radiates ethereal beauty, from the soaring dome to the intricate semiprecious stone floor.

5. Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey Completed in AD 537, it featured one of the first fully pendentive domes and the world's largest interior at the time. After Constantinople fell in 1453, this majestic Eastern rite church was turned into a mosque.

6. Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque, Iran

7. The U.S. Capitol rotunda With a 96-foot diameter and a height of 180 feet, the rotunda was designed in the neoclassical style to evoke the design of the Pantheon. Built between 1818 and 1824, it has been described as the Capitol's "symbolic and physical heart".

8. Church of the Savior on Blood Situated in Saint Petersburg, this Orthodox church features ceilings entirely covered with intricate mosaics, with a majestic depiction of Christ Pantocrator beneath the central dome.

9. Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem

10. Church of Saint Sava, Serbia Also known as the "new Hagia Sophia," it is home to the largest mosaic in the world, completed in 2020. The mosaics span 130,000 square feet and were created by 300 artists over four years, covering the interior of the enormous Orthodox church.

11. Chicago Federal Building The building was home to the largest dome in the United States, even larger than the U.S. Capitol. It was demolished in 1965 and replaced by the Kluczynski Federal Building.

12. Dome of Saint Mark, Venice The interior of the domes and vaults of this magnificent basilica were gradually adorned with gold-ground mosaics depicting saints, prophets, and biblical scenes.

13. St Paul's Cathedral, London During the "Second Great Fire of London", St Paul's stood as a symbol of strength. Churchill directed all fire-fighting resources to protect it, believing that any damage to it would affect the morale of the country.

14. Blue Mosque, Istanbul Built between 1609 and 1617 under the reign of Ahmed I, the mosque is adorned with thousands of Iznik tiles and vibrant floral designs, mostly in shades of blue, which led to its well-known name.

15. Sant'Ambrogio e Carlo al Corso, Rome

16. Ely Cathedral (England) by Peter Li

17. San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy The dome’s interior of the Basilica, a prime example of early Byzantine art and architecture, is adorned with Baroque frescoes dating back to the late 18th century.

18. Siena Cathedral's dome

19. Florence Cathedral The enormous ceiling of the dome, covering 38,750 square feet, is decorated with a depiction of The Last Judgment. It was started in 1572 by Vasari and completed by Federico Zuccari. To this day, it remains the largest masonry dome ever constructed.

20. St. Peter's Basilica At 448.1 feet (136.6 m), the top of its dome not only makes it the second tallest building in Rome but also places it among the tallest buildings of the Old World. It is also the tallest dome in the world.

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