Pantheon: Located in Rome, Italy, the world-famous Pantheon is one of the architectural masterpieces of ancient Rome. The Pantheon door, one of the oldest surviving bronze doors, has survived an incredible nearly two millennia.
This mᴀssive door, originally a Roman structure, escaped medieval looting largely because the temple had been converted into a church for centuries.
The door is remarkably well balanced despite its weight, allowing one person to open it with ease. Remarkably, it is one of only two doors in the world that still uses a 2,000-year-old lock. The Romans were masters of bronze doormaking, using the versatile and relatively inexpensive material to craft sturdy double doors, often supported by latches in the threshold and linen.
The Pantheon’s door, 7.53 metres (24.7 feet) high and 4.45 metres (14.6 feet) wide, is believed to date from the time of Emperor Hadrian or possibly even from its original builder, Marco Agrippa.
This is the oldest gate in Rome still in use. The doors are very well balanced, but very heavy, so much so that a person can easily push or open them. It is one of only two doors in the world with a 2000-year-old lock that is still working.
This door is an original Roman door and one of the very few bronze doors that survived the barbarian and Barberini looting. Near the hinges, the marks left by the iron bar used to remove the hinges are still visible. Of course, in vain.
According to the Roman Empire, Greek doors and especially Roman doors can be single, double, triple, sliding or folding. The first hinges appeared in Rome, while the first locks were already in Egypt, but it was the Romans who improved them by using metal.
Furthermore, with the invention of the iron lock, the Romans were finally able to effectively protect against theft.
