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From: lauf-s <lauf-s@xxxxxxxxxxx>
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Date: Sat, 16 Aug 2003 09:39:15 -0400
In Durand's _Recueil et parallèle des édifices de tout
genre, anciens & modernes, remarquables par leur beauté, par
leur grandeur ou par leur singularité_, 1800, where a
'history' of architecture is presented via plans and
elevations all drawn at the same scale and categorized by
type (ie, temples, churches, palaces, theaters, etc.), the
only building/structure larger than St. Peter's Basilica is
the Great Pyramid of Giza--the Great Pyramid originally
reached a height of 480 ft.; St. Peter's reaches 452 ft.;
the U.S Capitol reaches 287.5 ft. From this 'record', it is
likely safe to say that St. Peter's is the largest hollow
stone/masonry building.
When I compared the profiles of St. Peter's and the
Pyramid(s), it was more just the notion of both examples
having a broad base that progressively reaches a single
point at a great height.