THE ROTUNDA

  • Rotundas

One type of circular architecture was the rotunda. Rotundas were imitations of circular classical temples.

See the temple at Tivoli near Rome as an inspiration for circular buildings; it was a ruin in the Renaissance and in later centuries, and its original appearance can be imagined.

You may see the Tivoli temple on the CATI website, Master1/Virtual Spaces/Table of Contents/Ideal Landscapes/Alternative Views - which shows the temple as a ruin and in an architect's drawing showing it in its supposed ancient complete state.
  • Rotundas and 360° animations

In the previous lesson on 'The theatre as a model of landscape', we saw virtual reality panoramas enabling us to see the landscape all around the rotunda at Stowe.