Ancient Times

Metropolitan Museum of Art
Arco di Constantino
Colosseum
The Pantheon is one of the great spiritual buildings of the world. It was built as a Roman temple and later consecrated as a Catholic Church. Its monumental porch originally faced a rectangular colonnaded temple courtyard and now enfronts the smaller Piazza della Rotonda. Through great bronze doors, one enters one great circular room. The interior volume is a cylinder above which rises the hemispherical dome. Opposite the door is a recessed semicircular apse, and on each side are three additional recesses, alternately rectangular and semicircular, separated from the space under the dome by paired monolithic columns. The only natural light enters through an unglazed oculus at the center of the dome and through the bronze doors to the portico. As the sun moves, striking patterns of light illuminate the walls and floors of porphyry, granite and yellow marbles. (Source: Great Buildings Online)
Colosseum
Domus Agustea
Foro Romano
Castello St. Angelo
Pompejanum
The Stone Age village of "Sipplingen" is protected by palisades
The Stone Age village of "Sipplingen" is protected by palisades. This gate separates the village from the lake. This system is not only a protection against attackers but also blocks waves of the "Bodensee" during storms.
The Stone Age village of "Sipplingen" is protected by palisades. This is the main gate.
The village "Bad Buchau" shows examples of typical lake-dwelling houses of the Bronze Age
The Stone Age village of "Sipplingen" is protected by palisades. This is not only a protection against attackers but also blocks waves of the "Bodensee" during storms.
The village "Bad Buchau" shows examples of typical lake-dwelling houses of the Bronze Age.
The village "Bad Buchau" shows examples of typical lake-dwelling houses of the Bronze Age.
The Stone Age village of "Sipplingen"
Blades of the Stone Age
Greek statue of the Venus de Milo
Greek statue of the Venus de Milo
Sculpture in one of the two glass-roofed courtyards of the northern wing of the Louvre
3,300-year-old Egyptian obelisk decorated with hieroglyphics exalting the reign of the pharaoh Ramses II. on the Place de la Concorde
The Obelisk of Tuthmosis III in the middle of the Hippodrome of Constantinople. The plaza is today called Sultanahmet Meydani.
Obelisk of Tuthmosis III in the middle of the Hippodrome of Constantinople. The plaza is today called Sultanahmet Meydani. The obelisk stands on top of two marble stones. The lower marble block describes how the monument was raised here in Constantinople. The block shown here praises the emperor and his family.
Interior of the Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya)
Interior of the Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya)
Hagia Sophia is covered by a central dome with a diameter of 31 meters (102 feet), slightly smaller than the Pantheon's. The dome seems rendered weightless by the unbroken arcade of arched windows under it, which help flood the colorful interior with light. The dome is carried on pendentives-four concave triangular sections of masonry which solve the problem of setting the circular base of a dome on a rectangular base. At Hagia Sophia the weight of the dome passes through the pendentives to four massive piers at the corners. Between them the dome seems to float upon four great arches.
Interior of the Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya)
Entrance to Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya)
Roman altar
Tomb of the legionary Poblicius (around 40 A.D.) in the Romano-Germanic Museum in Cologne
The Romano-Germanic Museum was built in 1974 in the immediate vicinity of the cathedral on the walls of an ancient Roman villa from the third century. This villa was discovered in 1941 during the construction of an air-raid shelter. The main room of the villa was decorated with the beautiful Dionysus mosaic (around 220/230 A.D). During the construction of the museum the new building was erected around and above the ancient villa. So the mosaic was not relocated into the museum but sill lies at its original location.
Romano-Germanic Museum in Cologne
Roman tombstones in the Romano-Germanic Museum in Cologne
Reconstruction of a Roman carriage in the Romano-Germanic Museum in Cologne
Small metal figurines above the coach box of a reconstructed Roman carriage in the Romano-Germanic Museum in Cologne
Reconstruction of a Roman carriage in the Romano-Germanic Museum in Cologne
Romano-Germanic Museum in Cologne
The Romano-Germanic Museum in Cologne also houses the world's largest collection of Roman glass art works. This small masterpiece shown in the picture is more than 1,600 years old.
Roman glass art work
Roman glass art work
Roman glass art work
Roman glass drining horn
Roman glass art work
Roman mosaic
Small statuette of a female roman Goddess
Small statuette of a female roman Goddess
Small statuette of a female roman Goddess
Foundations of the Praetorium, the palace of the Roman Praetor, below the town hall of Cologne
Foundations of the Praetorium, the palace of the Roman Praetor, below the town hall of Cologne
The Pergamon Altar is a magnificent structure originally built in the 2nd century BC in the Ancient Greek city of Pergamon (also known as Pergamum; modern day Bergama in Turkey) in northwestern Anatolia, 25.74 kilometers (16 miles) from the Aegean Sea. The temple was dedicated to Zeus.
The Pergamon Altar was shipped out of the Ottoman Empire from the original excavation site by the German archeological team lead by Carl Humann, and reconstructed in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin in the 19th century.
The Ishtar Gate shown today in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin was the eighth gate to the inner city of Babylon. It was constructed in about 575 BC by order of King Nebuchadrezzar II on the north side of the city.
The Ishtar Gate shown today in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin was the eighth gate to the inner city of Babylon. It was constructed in about 575 BC by order of King Nebuchadrezzar II on the north side of the city.
A reconstruction of the Ishtar Gate and Processional Way was built at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin out of material excavated by Robert Koldewey and finished in the 1930s.
Frieze of the Pergamon Altar
Defense walls of the roman fort Saalburg. On the left you can see a part of the wall where the plastering was restored as it could have looked like during Roman times. In the background you can see another of the four entrances (porta principails sinistra).
Porta Praetoria of the roman fort Saalburg
Vestibule of the Principa
This temple-like building houses the insignia of the troops stationed in the Saalburg
Mithras sanctuary
Emperors throne in the Aachen Cathedral
Central apsis of the dome with the huge Barbarossa Chandelier
Main entrance of the Aachen Cathedral
The cathedral obtained its present shape in the course of more than a millennium. The core of the Aachen cathedral is the Palatine Chapel; being surprisingly small in comparison to the later additions, at the time of its construction it was the largest dome north of the Alps. Its fascinating architecture with Classical, Byzantine and Germanic-Franconian elements is the essence of a monumental building of great importance: for 600 years, from 936 to 1531, the Aachen cathedral was the church of coronation for 30 emperors of the Holy Roman Empire.
The Trajan's Forum (Forum Traiani) is the youngest of the Imperial fora of Rome
Curia Iulia, home of the Roman Senate
Amphitheatrum Flavium - better known as the Colosseum
Colosseum
Originally capable of seating around 50,000 spectators, the Colosseum was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles. It remained in use for nearly 500 years with the last recorded games being held there as late as the 6th century - well after the traditional date of the fall of Rome in 476.
Colosseum
Colosseum
Colosseum
Façade above the entrance of the Colosseum
The Arch of Constantine (Arco di Constantino or Arcus Constantini)
Amphitheatrum Flavium - better known as the Colosseum
Arch of Septimius Severus on Forum Romanum
Column erected around 608 in honour of the Byzantine emperor Phocas
View from Forum Romanum up to Palatine Hill
View from Forum Romanum up to Capitol Hill. On the left side you can see ruins of the Basilica Julia. On the middle you see some columns of the Saturn Temple
View from Forum Romanum up to Capitol Hill. On the left side you can see ruins of the Basilica Julia. On the middle you see some columns of the Saturn Temple.
Basilica Iulia and the Palatine Hill in the background
The Basilica of Maxentius was the largest building in the Roman Forum
The Basilica of Maxentius was the largest building in the Roman Forum
View from Palatine Hill over the Forum Romanum
Navis lusoria reconstruction hosted by the Museum of Ancient Shipping
Navis lusoria reconstruction hosted by the Museum of Ancient Shipping
Small-scale models of Roman warships
Small-scale models of Roman warships
Large reconstruction of a Roman troop transporter
      
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