dome is an impressive feature, and St. Peter's a noble church. The architecture was synonymous with churches. A civil history, a political history, and a history of ideas are juxtaposed with a history of architecture.
Italian Renaissance architects based their theories and practices on Classical Roman examples. The Renaissance revival of Classical Rome was as eminent in architecture as it was in literature. A pilgrimage to Rome to study the ancient buildings and ruins, especially the Colosseum and Pantheon, was considered essential to an architect's training. Classical orders and architectural elements such as columns, pilasters, pediments, entablatures, arches, and domes form the vocabulary of Renaissance buildings.