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Styles of Architecture

Orders
• Stylistically, Ancient Greek architecture is divided into three
“orders”: the Doric Order, the Ionic Order and the Corinthian Order.
• While the three orders are most easily recognizable by their capitals,
the orders also governed the form, proportions, details and
relationships of the columns, entablature, pediment and the
stylobate.
• The different orders were applied to the whole range of buildings
and monuments.

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Doric Order
• Doric columns are the heaviest in
appearance
• The capital is plain.
• The shaft is thick – though it loses some
of its mass over time.
• There is no base.
• Masculine, serious, and dignified.
• For example, the Parthenon - temple of
Athena Parthenos ("Virgin")

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Ionic Order
• These have greater elegance.
• The capital has distinctive volutes.
• The shaft is thinner than its Doric
equivalent.
• A base is apparent.
• feminine, light, delicate and elegant.
• For example, Erechtheum - temple
from the middle classical period of
Greek art and architecture

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Corinthian Order
• This is also a tall, elegant form.
• The capital has distinctive acanthus
leaf decoration.
• A base is also employed.
• Grandiose.
• Seldom used in the Greek world,
but often seen on Roman temples.

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The Comparison between the Past and Modern

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Temples in Greece

• Between the 9th century BC and the

6th century BC, during the Ancient
Greek temples developed from the
small mud brick structures into
monumental double porticos
buildings, often reaching more than
20 meters in height (not including
the roof).
• Early temples had massive pillars as
architects worried about their ability
to support the weight above.
• Later temples appear more elegant.
• In the mild climate of Greece,
ceremonies generally took place 11
outdoors.
• Even the alter, upon which sacrifices were made, were outside the
temple structure.
• Unlike modern churches or mosques, Greek temples were not
meant to be meeting places for congregations.
• They were homes for the community’s god or goddess and a place
to keep offerings
• A cult image was centrally located within a naos, or chapel.

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Temple of Hera, Paestum

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Hephaistion, Athens
Forms
• Greek temples, like
Egyptian ones, tended to
follow set patterns, which
were regarded as ideal
forms.
• Variations are few in any
given period, tending to
reflect the choice of a
particular classical order,
rather than new and
novel design.

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Elements of the Temples

There are four distinct parts to a greek temple:

1. Stylobate
• The bottom, horizontal part is the steps. Most Greek temples had
three of them.

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2. Column
• Most columns had a base (though not the Doric), at the bottom,
a shaft in the middle, and a capital at the top.
• The shaft may be smooth or fluted.

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3. Entablature
• It has 3 parts: the architrave, a kind of base.
• The frieze, a decorated part
• The cornice the top.

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3. Pediment
• The sloping top part is called the sloping cornice.
• The triangular part below is called the tympanum. This is often
carved and decorated.
• Sometimes there are caved features sticking up from the room.
These are called antifixae or acroterions.

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Characteristics of the Temples

• Oriented towards the east

• Surrounded by open colonnade
• Entrance doors on the east and west walls
• Windows were rare
• Timber roofs covered with marble or terracotta tiles
• Antifixae ornament at the end of the roof tiles

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Plan of the Temples

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• Crepidoma - an architectural term related to ancient Greek buildings.
The crepidoma is the platform on which the superstructure of the
building is erected. The crepidoma is usually, three levels. The levels
typically decrease in size incrementally, forming a series of steps along
all or some sides of the building. The crepidoma rests on the
euthynteria (foundation), which is normally constructed of locally
available stone for the sake of economy. The topmost level of the
crepidoma is termed the stylobate, because it is the platform for the
columns. The lower levels of the crepidoma are termed the
“stereobate”.)
• Naos – refers to the Cella, i.e. the inner chamber of a temple which
houses a cult figure
• Pronaos – the inner area of the portico of a Greek or Roman Temple,
situated between the portico's colonnade or walls and the entrance to
the cella, or shrine
• Epinaos (Opisthododmos) - a room in the rear of the cella of an ancient 21
Greek temple
Types of Plan

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1. Temple in antis
• The simplest example of a Greek temple.
• A small rectangular structure sheltering the cult statue.
• In front of the cella, a small porch or pronaos was formed by the
protruding cella walls, the antae. The pronaos was linked to
the cella by a door.
• To support the superstructure, two columns were placed between
the fronts of the antae (in antis). When equipped with
an opisthodomos, this type is called a double anta temple.
• A variant of that type has the opisthodomos at the back of
the cella indicated merely by half-columns and shortened antae, so
that it can be described as a pseudo-opisthodomos.
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2. Prostylos Temple
• The porch of a temple in antis has a row of usually four or six
columns in front of its whole breadth.
• The whole pronaos may be omitted in this case or just leave
the antae without columns.
• An amphiprostylos or amphiprostyle repeats the same column
setting at the back.

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3. Peripteros/ Peripteral
• Surrounded by ptera (colonnades) on all four sides, each usually
formed by a single row of columns.
• This produces an unobstructed surrounding portico, the peristasis,
on all four sides of the temple.
• A Hellenistic and Roman form of this shape is the pseudoperipteros,
where the side columns of the peristasis are indicated only
by engaged columns or pilasters directly attached to the external
cella walls.

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4. Dipteros/ Dipteral
• Equipped with a double colonnade on all four sides, sometimes with
further rows of columns at the front and back.
• A pseudodipteros has engaged columns in the inner row of columns
at the sides.

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5. Tholoi
• Circular temples form a special type.
• They are surrounded by a colonnade.
• Although of sacred character, their function as a temple can often
not be asserted.

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Design and Measurement of Temples

1. Proportions
• The foundations of Greek temples could reach dimensions of up to
115m by 55m. Columns could reach a height of 20 m.
• The main measurement was the foot, varying between 29 and 34 cm
from region to region. This initial measurement was the basis for all
the units that determined the shape of the temple.
• These measurements were in set proportions to other elements of
design, such as column height and column distance.
• The number of columns per side, they also determined the
dimensions of stylobate and peritasis, as well as of the naos proper.
• The rules regarding vertical proportions, especially in the Doric
order, also allow for a deduction of the basic design options for the
entablature from the same principles. 29
2. Naos-Peristasis Relationship
• In the original temples, this would have been subject entirely to
practical necessities, and always based on axial links
between cella walls and columns, but the introduction of stone
architecture broke that connection.
• Nevertheless, it did survive throughout Ionic architecture.
• Doric temples in Greater Greece rarely follow this system.

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3. Column Number Formula
• The basic proportions of the building were determined by the
numeric relationship of columns on the front and back to those on
the sides.
• The classic solution chosen by Greek architects is the formula
"frontal columns : side columns = n : (2n+1)", which can also be used
for the number of intercolumniations.
• As a result, numerous temples of the Classical period in Greece
(circa 500 to 336 BC) had 6 x 13 columns or 5 x 11
intercolumniations.

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4. Column Spacing
• Since the turn of the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, the proportion of
column width to the space between columns, the
intercolumniations, played an increasingly important role in
architectural theory:

 Pyknostyle, tight-columned: intercolumnium = 1 ½ lower column diameters

 Systyle, close-columned: intercolumnium = 2 lower column diameters
 Eustyle, well-columned: intercolumnium = 2 ¼ lower column diameters
 Diastyle, board-columned: interkolumnium = 3 lower column diameters
 Araeostyle, light-columned: intercolumnium = 3 ½ lower column diameters

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Parthenon

• The Parthenon is a former temple on the Athenian Acropolis,

Greece, dedicated to the goddess Athena.
• It is regarded as an enduring symbol of Ancient Greece, Athenian
democracy and western civilization, and one of the world's greatest
cultural monuments.

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• The Parthenon is a peripheral octastyle Doric temple
with Ionic architectural features.
• It stands on a platform or stylobate of three steps.
• It is of post and lintel construction and is surrounded by columns
("peripheral") carrying an entablature.
• There are eight columns at either end ("octastyle") and seventeen
on the sides. There is a double row of columns at either end.
• The colonnade surrounds an inner masonry structure, the cella,
which is divided into two compartments.
• At either end of the building the gable is finished with a triangular
pediment originally filled with sculpture.
• Around the cella and across the lintels of the inner columns runs a
continuous sculptured ionic frieze in low relief. 35
Floor plan of the Parthenon
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ANTIFIXAE ORNAMENT TYMPANUM PEDIMENT

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CREPIDOMA
Front elevation view of the Parthenon
The most characteristic feature in the
architecture and decoration of the
temple is the Ionic frieze running
around the exterior walls of the cella,
which is the inside structure of the
Parthenon. The bas-relief frieze was
carved in situ; it is dated to 442 BC-
438 BC.

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 Doric colonnades in two tiers, structurally necessary to 39
support the roof. On the exterior, the Doric columns
measure 0.9 meters (2.8 ft) in diameter and are 10.4 meters
(34.1 ft) high.
Phidias showing the Frieze of the Parthenon to his Friends, 40
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Optical Correction
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Reconstruction of the Parthenon in Nashville.
Temple of Athena Nike

• The Temple of Athena Nike is a temple on the Acropolis of Athens.

• Built around 420BC, the temple is the earliest fully Ionic temple on
the Acropolis.
• It has a prominent position on a steep bastion at the south west
corner of the Acropolis to the right of the entrance, the Propylea.
• It is a small temple dedicated to the victorious Athena.

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Northeast view of the temple of Athena Nike
• It is a tetrastyle (four columns) Ionic structure with a colonnaded
portico at both front and rear facades.
• The columns along the east and west fronts were monolithic
columns.
• The temple ran 27 feet long by 18 and a half feet wide and 23 feet
tall.
• The total height from the stylobate to the acme of
the pediment while the temple remained intact was a modest 23
feet.
• The ratio of height to diameter of the columns is 7:1, not
encountered in the normal 9:1 or 10:1 of Ionic buildings.
• Constructed from white Pentelic marble.
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• The relief frieze on the upper section
of the walls depicts the conference
of gods on the east side, and scenes
from battles on the other three.
• A marble parapet decorated with
the relief representation of Nike
(Victories), protected the edge of
the Bastion on which the temple
was erected.

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Floor plan of the temple of Athena Nike
Erechtheion

• The Erechtheion or Erechtheum is an ancient Greek temple on the

north side of the Acropolis of Athens in Greece which was dedicated
to both Athena and Poseidon.
• It was built between 421 and 406 BCE.

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Section through reconstructed version
• The Erechtheion is an Ionic temple.
• The main structure consists of up to four compartments, the largest
being the east cella, with an Ionic portico on its east end.
• The entire temple is on a slope, so the west and north sides are
about 3 m (9 ft) lower than the south and east sides.
• It was built entirely of marble, with friezes of black limestone which
bore sculptures executed in relief in white marble.
• It had elaborately carved doorways and windows, and its columns
were ornately decorated (far more so than is visible today); they
were painted, gilded and highlighted with gilt bronze and multi-
colored inset glass beads.
• This is a complex building of up to four distinct spaces.
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• On the north side, there is another large porch with six Ionic
columns, and on the south, the famous "Porch of the Maidens", with
six draped female figures as supporting columns.

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Floor plan of the Erechtheion

West elevation South elevation

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East Elevation North Elevation
Theater in Greece

• Every Greek town had a theatre.

• These were used for both public meetings as well as dramatic
performances.
• The theatre was usually set in a hillside outside the town, and had
rows of tiered seating set in a semi-circle around the central
performance area
• Behind the orchestra was a low building called the skene, which
served as a store-room, a dressing-room, and also as a backdrop to
the action taking place in the orchestra.
• A number of Greek theatres survive almost intact, the best known
being at Epidaurus.
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• Ancient Greek theaters were very large, open-air structures that
took advantage of sloping hillsides for their terraced seating.
• Because of drama's close connection with religion, theaters were
often located in or near sanctuaries.
• For dramas & acting - related to religion, Dionysus, their wind god
• Auditorium floor plan in horse shoe shape
• Platform for orchestra
• No roof, can seat 14000 – 15000 people
• Unusual acoustic properties

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• A Greek theater building, or theatron, was a large open-air structure
consisting of three parts: the orchestra, the skene, and the audience.
• At the center was the orchestra, or "dancing place." It was a large
circular area about 150 meters across. The orchestra was the place
of the action, the choral performances, and the religious rites.
• An altar was in the middle of the orchestra; in Athens the altar was
dedicated to Dionysus.

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Delphi

• The audience sat in the theatron the “seeing place,” on semi-

circular terraced rows of benches (in the earliest theaters these
were wooden; they were later built of stone).
• The Greeks often built these in a natural hollow (a koilon), though
the sides were increasingly reinforced with stone .

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• The acoustics in this theater, however, are magnificent, and words
spoken very softly in the orchestra can be heard in the top rows (as
long as your neighbors are quiet).

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Epidaurus

• This theatre was enormous, able to seat 15,000 viewers.

• It is the largest surviving theater in Greece
• Greek theatres were not enclosed; the audience could see each
other and the surrounding countryside as well as the actors and
chorus.

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Plan of the Epidaurus

Detail of seating, Theater, Epidaurus, showing walkway
between upper and lower divisions of seats

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