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Greek temples ( grc, ναός, naós, dwelling, semantically distinct from
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
, "
temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...
") were structures built to house deity statues within Greek sanctuaries in
ancient Greek religion Religious practices in ancient Greece encompassed a collection of beliefs, rituals, and mythology, in the form of both popular public religion and cult practices. The application of the modern concept of "religion" to ancient cultures has bee ...
. The temple interiors did not serve as meeting places, since the
sacrifice Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly exis ...
s and rituals dedicated to the respective ouranic (a god or goddess that does not reside on the Earth) deity took place outside them, within the wider precinct of the sanctuary, which might be large. Temples were frequently used to store votive offerings. They are the most important and most widespread building type in
Greek architecture Ancient Greek architecture came from the Greek-speaking people (''Hellenic'' people) whose culture flourished on the Greek mainland, the Peloponnese, the Aegean Islands, and in colonies in Anatolia and Italy for a period from about 900 BC u ...
. In the
Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...
kingdoms of
Southwest Asia Western Asia, West Asia, or Southwest Asia, is the westernmost subregion of the larger geographical region of Asia, as defined by some academics, UN bodies and other institutions. It is almost entirely a part of the Middle East, and includes Ana ...
and of
North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
, buildings erected to fulfill the functions of a temple often continued to follow the local traditions. Even where a Greek influence is visible, such structures are not normally considered as Greek temples. This applies, for example, to the Graeco-Parthian and
Bactria Bactria (; Bactrian: , ), or Bactriana, was an ancient region in Central Asia in Amu Darya's middle stream, stretching north of the Hindu Kush, west of the Pamirs and south of the Gissar range, covering the northern part of Afghanistan, sou ...
n temples, or to the Ptolemaic examples, which follow Egyptian tradition. Most Greek temples were oriented astronomically. Between the 9th century BCE and the 6th century BCE, the
ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic pe ...
temples developed from the small
mud brick A mudbrick or mud-brick is an air-dried brick, made of a mixture of loam, mud, sand and water mixed with a binding material such as rice husks or straw. Mudbricks are known from 9000 BCE, though since 4000 BCE, bricks have also been f ...
structures into double- porched monumental "peripteral" buildings with
colonnade In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or cur ...
on all sides, often reaching more than 20 metres in height (not including the roof). Stylistically, they were governed by the regionally specific
architectural orders An order in architecture is a certain assemblage of parts subject to uniform established proportions, regulated by the office that each part has to perform. Coming down to the present from Ancient Greek and Ancient Roman civilization, the arc ...
. Whereas the distinction was originally between the
Doric Doric may refer to: * Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece ** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians * Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture * Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode * Doric dialect (Scotland) * Doric ...
and Ionic orders, a third alternative arose in late 3rd century BCE with the
Corinthian order The Corinthian order ( Greek: Κορινθιακός ρυθμός, Latin: ''Ordo Corinthius'') is the last developed of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order ...
. A multitude of different ground plans were developed, each of which could be combined with the superstructure in the different orders. Temples would be destroyed due to warfare in the Greek World or from lack of repairs. Some of these temples such as the temple of Poseidon Soter (The Savior) would be rebuilt outside of Athens after the defeat of the Persian Empire in 449 BCE. From the 3rd century BCE onward, the construction of large temples became less common; after a short 2nd century BCE flourish, it ceased nearly entirely in the 1st century BCE. Thereafter, only smaller structures were started, while older temples continued to be renovated or brought to completion if in an unfinished state. Greek temples were designed and constructed according to set proportions, mostly determined by the lower diameter of the
column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression (physical), compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column i ...
s or by the dimensions of the foundation levels. The nearly mathematical strictness of the basic designs thus reached was lightened by optical refinements. In spite of the still widespread idealised image, Greek temples were painted, so that bright reds and blues contrasted with the white of the building stones or of
stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...
. The more elaborate temples were equipped with very rich figural decoration in the form of
relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...
s and sculptures on the
pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedim ...
. The construction of temples was usually organised and financed by
cities A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
or by the administrations of sanctuaries. Private individuals, especially Hellenistic rulers, could also sponsor such buildings. In the late
Hellenistic period In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...
, their decreasing financial wealth, along with the progressive incorporation of the Greek world within the Roman state, whose officials and rulers took over as sponsors, led to the end of Greek temple construction. New temples now belonged to the tradition of the
Roman temple Ancient Roman temples were among the most important buildings in Roman culture, and some of the richest buildings in Roman architecture, though only a few survive in any sort of complete state. Today they remain "the most obvious symbol of ...
, which, in spite of the very strong Greek influence on it, aimed for different goals and followed different aesthetic principles (for a comparison, see the other article). The main temple building sat within a larger precinct or '' temenos'', usually surrounded by a '' peribolos'' fence or wall; the whole is usually called a "sanctuary". The
Acropolis of Athens The Acropolis of Athens is an ancient citadel located on a rocky outcrop above the city of Athens and contains the remains of several ancient buildings of great architectural and historical significance, the most famous being the Parthenon. Th ...
is the most famous example, though this was apparently walled as a citadel before a temple was ever built there. This might include many subsidiary buildings,
sacred grove Sacred groves or sacred woods are groves of trees and have special religious importance within a particular culture. Sacred groves feature in various cultures throughout the world. They were important features of the mythological landscape and ...
s or springs, animals dedicated to the deity, and sometimes people who had taken sanctuary from the law, which some temples offered, for example to runaway slaves.


Development


Origins

The earliest Greek sanctuaries probably did not contain temple buildings, though our knowledge of these is limited since many of these were destroyed, and the subject is controversial. A typical early sanctuary seems to have consisted of a , often around a sacred grove, cave or spring, and perhaps defined only by marker stones at intervals, with an altar for offerings. Many rural sanctuaries probably stayed in this style, but the more popular were gradually able to afford a building to house a cult image, especially in cities. This process was certainly under way by the 9th century BCE, and probably started earlier. The Mycenaean ''
megaron The megaron (; grc, μέγαρον, ), plural ''megara'' , was the great hall in very early Mycenean and ancient Greek palace complexes. Architecturally, it was a rectangular hall that was surrounded by four columns, fronted by an open, tw ...
'' (15th to the 13th century BCE) was the precursor for later Archaic and Classical Greek temples, but during the Greek Dark Age the buildings became smaller and less monumental. The basic principles for the development of Greek temple architecture have their roots between the 10th century BCE and the 7th century BCE. In its simplest form as a '' naos'', the temple was a simple rectangular shrine with protruding side walls ( ''antae''), forming a small porch. Until the 8th century BCE, there were also
apsidal In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...
structures with more or less semi-circular back walls, but the rectangular type prevailed. By adding columns to this small basic structure, the Greeks triggered the development and variety of their temple architecture. The Temple of Isthmia, built in 690–650 BCE was perhaps the first true Archaic temple. Its size,
colonnade In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or cur ...
, and roof made it different from then-contemporary buildings.


Wooden architecture: Early Archaic

The first temples were mostly mud,
brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...
, and
marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...
structures on stone foundations. The columns and superstructure (
entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...
) were wooden, door openings and were protected with wooden planks. The mud brick walls were often reinforced by wooden posts, in a type of
half-timbered Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large woode ...
technique. The elements of this simple and clearly structured wooden architecture produced all the important design principles that were to determine the development of Greek temples for centuries. Near the end of the 7th century BCE, the dimensions of these simple structures were increased considerably. Temple C at Thermos is the first of the , temples with a length of . Since it was not technically possible to roof broad spaces at that time, these temples remained very narrow, at 6 to 10 metres in width. To stress the importance of the cult statue and the building holding it, the was equipped with a canopy, supported by columns. The resulting set of colonnade surrounding the temple on all sides (the ''peristasis'') was exclusively used for temples in Greek architecture. The combination of the temple with colonnades ('' ptera'') on all sides posed a new aesthetic challenge for the architects and patrons: the structures had to be built to be viewed from all directions. This led to the development of the '' peripteros'', with a frontal ''
pronaos A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...
'' (porch), mirrored by a similar arrangement at the back of the building, the '' opisthodomos'', which became necessary for entirely aesthetic reasons.


Introduction of stone architecture: Archaic and Classical

After the reintroduction of stone architecture, the essential elements and forms of each temple, such as the number of columns and of column rows, underwent constant change throughout Greek antiquity. In the 6th century BCE, Ionian
Samos Samos (, also ; el, Σάμος ) is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the -wide Mycale Strait. It is also a sepa ...
developed the double-colonnaded '' dipteros'' as an alternative to the single . This idea was later copied in
Didyma Didyma (; grc, Δίδυμα) was an ancient Greek sanctuary on the coast of Ionia in the domain of the famous city of Miletus. Apollo was the main deity of the sanctuary of Didyma, also called ''Didymaion''. But it was home to both of the te ...
, Ephesos and
Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...
. Between the 6th and the late 4th century BCE, innumerable temples were built; nearly every ''
polis ''Polis'' (, ; grc-gre, πόλις, ), plural ''poleis'' (, , ), literally means "city" in Greek. In Ancient Greece, it originally referred to an administrative and religious city center, as distinct from the rest of the city. Later, it also ...
'', every
Greek colony Greek colonization was an organised colonial expansion by the Archaic Greeks into the Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea in the period of the 8th–6th centuries BC. This colonization differed from the migrations of the Greek Dark Ages in that i ...
contained one or several. There were also temples at extra-urban sites and at major sanctuaries like Olympia and
Delphi Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), in ancient times was a sacred precinct that served as the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient classical world. The orac ...
. The observable change of form indicates the search for a harmonious form of all architectural elements: the development led from simpler early forms which often appear coarse and bulky up to the aesthetic perfection and refinement of the later structures; from simple experimentation to the strict mathematical complexity of ground plans and superstructures.


Decline of Greek temple building: Hellenistic period

From the early
Hellenistic period In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...
onwards, the Greek peripteral temple lost much of its importance. With very few exceptions, Classical temple construction ceased both in
Hellenistic Greece Hellenistic Greece is the historical period of the country following Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the annexation of the classical Greek Achaean League heartlands by the Roman Republic. This culminated ...
and in the Greek colonies of
Magna Graecia Magna Graecia (, ; , , grc, Μεγάλη Ἑλλάς, ', it, Magna Grecia) was the name given by the Romans to the coastal areas of Southern Italy in the present-day Italian regions of Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Campania and Sicily; the ...
. Only the west of
Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
maintained a low level of temple construction during the 3rd century BCE. The construction of large projects, such as the temple of
Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
at
Didyma Didyma (; grc, Δίδυμα) was an ancient Greek sanctuary on the coast of Ionia in the domain of the famous city of Miletus. Apollo was the main deity of the sanctuary of Didyma, also called ''Didymaion''. But it was home to both of the te ...
near
Miletus Miletus (; gr, Μῑ́λητος, Mī́lētos; Hittite transcription ''Millawanda'' or ''Milawata'' ( exonyms); la, Mīlētus; tr, Milet) was an ancient Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia, near the mouth of the Maeander River in ...
and the Artemision at
Sardis Sardis () or Sardes (; Lydian: 𐤳𐤱𐤠𐤭𐤣 ''Sfard''; el, Σάρδεις ''Sardeis''; peo, Sparda; hbo, ספרד ''Sfarad'') was an ancient city at the location of modern ''Sart'' (Sartmahmut before 19 October 2005), near Salihli, ...
did not make much progress. The 2nd century BCE saw a revival of temple architecture, including peripteral temples. This is partially due to the influence of the architect
Hermogenes of Priene Interest in Hermogenes of Priene (late 3rd - early 2nd century BC), the Hellenistic architect of a temple of Artemis Leukophryene (''Artemision'') at Magnesia in Lydia, an Ionian colony on the banks of the Maeander river in Anatolia, has been s ...
, who redefined the principles of Ionic temple construction both practically and through theoretical work. At the same time, the rulers of the various Hellenistic kingdoms provided copious financial resources. Their self-aggrandisation, rivalry, desires to stabilise their spheres of influence, as well as the increasing conflict with
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
(partially played out in the field of culture), combined to release much energy into the revival of complex Greek temple architecture. During this phase, Greek temples became widespread in southern Asia Minor,
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...
and
Northern Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in t ...
. But in spite of such examples and of the positive conditions produced by the economic upturn and the high degree of technical innovation in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE, Hellenistic religious architecture is mostly represented by a multitude of small temples ''
in antis An anta (pl. antæ, antae, or antas; Latin, possibly from ''ante'', "before" or "in front of"), or sometimes parastas (pl. parastades), is an architectural term describing the posts or pillars on either side of a doorway or entrance of a Greek ...
'' and ''
prostyle Prostyle is an architectural term designating temples (especially Greek and Roman) featuring a row of columns on the front. The term is often used as an adjective when referring to the portico of a classical building, which projects from the ...
'' temples, as well as tiny shrines ('' naiskoi''). The latter had been erected in important places, on market squares, near springs and by roads, since the Archaic period, but reached their main flourish now. This limitation to smaller structures led to the development of a special form, the '' pseudoperipteros'', which uses
engaged column In architecture, an engaged column is a column embedded in a wall and partly projecting from the surface of the wall, sometimes defined as semi- or three-quarter detached. Engaged columns are rarely found in classical Greek architecture, and then ...
s along the ''naos'' walls to produce the illusion of a peripteral temple. An early case of this is temple L at Epidauros, followed by many prominent Roman examples, such as the
Maison Carrée Maison (French for "house") may refer to: People * Edna Maison (1892–1946), American silent-film actress * Jérémy Maison (born 1993), French cyclist * Leonard Maison, New York state senator 1834–1837 * Nicolas Joseph Maison (1771–1840), Ma ...
at
Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; oc, Nimes ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the prefecture of the Gard department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. Located between the Mediterranean Sea and Cévennes, the commune of Nîmes has an estimated population of ...
.


End of Greek temple construction: Roman Greece

In the early 1st century BCE, the
Mithridatic Wars The Mithridatic Wars were three conflicts fought by Rome against the Kingdom of Pontus and its allies between 88 BC and 63 BC. They are named after Mithridates VI, the King of Pontus who initiated the hostilities after annexing the Roman provi ...
led to changes of architectural practice. The role of sponsor was increasingly taken by Roman
magistrates The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judic ...
of the Eastern provinces, who rarely demonstrated their generosity by building temples. Nevertheless, some temples were erected at this time, e.g. the Temple of Aphrodite at
Aphrodisias Aphrodisias (; grc, Ἀφροδισιάς, Aphrodisiás) was a small ancient Greek Hellenistic city in the historic Caria cultural region of western Anatolia, Turkey. It is located near the modern village of Geyre, about east/inland from t ...
. The introduction of the
principate The Principate is the name sometimes given to the first period of the Roman Empire from the beginning of the reign of Augustus in 27 BC to the end of the Crisis of the Third Century in AD 284, after which it evolved into the so-called Dominate. ...
lead to few new buildings, mostly temples for the
imperial cult An imperial cult is a form of state religion in which an emperor or a dynasty of emperors (or rulers of another title) are worshipped as demigods or deities. "Cult" here is used to mean "worship", not in the modern pejorative sense. The cult may ...
or to
Roman deities The Roman deities most widely known today are those the Romans identified with Greek counterparts (see ''interpretatio graeca''), integrating Greek myths, iconography, and sometimes religious practices into Roman culture, including Latin litera ...
, e.g. the temple of
Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousand ...
at
Baalbek Baalbek (; ar, بَعْلَبَكّ, Baʿlabakk, Syriac-Aramaic: ܒܥܠܒܟ) is a city located east of the Litani River in Lebanon's Beqaa Valley, about northeast of Beirut. It is the capital of Baalbek-Hermel Governorate. In Greek and Roman ...
. Although new temples to Greek deities still continued to be constructed, e.g. the Tychaion at Selge they tend to follow the canonical forms of the developing Roman imperial style of architecture or to maintain local non-Greek idiosyncrasies, like the temples in
Petra Petra ( ar, ٱلْبَتْرَاء, Al-Batrāʾ; grc, Πέτρα, "Rock", Nabataean: ), originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu or Raqēmō, is an historic and archaeological city in southern Jordan. It is adjacent to the mountain of Ja ...
or
Palmyra Palmyra (; Palmyrene: () ''Tadmor''; ar, تَدْمُر ''Tadmur'') is an ancient city in present-day Homs Governorate, Syria. Archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first mention the city in the early secon ...
. The increasing romanisation of the east entailed the end of Greek temple architecture, although work continued on the completion of unfinished large structures like the temple of
Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
at
Didyma Didyma (; grc, Δίδυμα) was an ancient Greek sanctuary on the coast of Ionia in the domain of the famous city of Miletus. Apollo was the main deity of the sanctuary of Didyma, also called ''Didymaion''. But it was home to both of the te ...
or the
Olympieion The Temple of Olympian Zeus ( grc-gre, Ναός του Ολυμπίου Διός, ), also known as the Olympieion or Columns of the Olympian Zeus, is a former colossal temple at the center of the Greek capital Athens. It was dedicated to "Olym ...
at
Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...
into the later 2nd century AD.


Abandonment and conversion of temples: Late Antiquity

The edicts of
Theodosius I Theodosius I ( grc-gre, Θεοδόσιος ; 11 January 347 – 17 January 395), also called Theodosius the Great, was Roman emperor from 379 to 395. During his reign, he succeeded in a crucial war against the Goths, as well as in two ...
and his successors on the throne of the
Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...
, banning pagan cults, led to the gradual closure of Greek temples, or their conversion into
Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...
churches. Thus ends the history of the Greek temples' original purpose, although many of them remained in use for a long time afterwards. For example, the Athenian
Parthenon The Parthenon (; grc, Παρθενών, , ; ell, Παρθενώνας, , ) is a former temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, that was dedicated to the goddess Athena during the fifth century BC. Its decorative sculptures are considere ...
, first reconsecrated as a church was turned into a
mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...
after the Ottoman conquest and remained structurally unharmed until the 17th century AD. Only the unfortunate impact of a
Venetian Venetian often means from or related to: * Venice, a city in Italy * Veneto, a region of Italy * Republic of Venice (697–1797), a historical nation in that area Venetian and the like may also refer to: * Venetian language, a Romance language s ...
cannonball into the building, then used to store gunpowder, led to the destruction of much of this important temple, more than 2,000 years after it was built.


Structure

Canonical Greek temples maintained the same basic structure throughout many centuries. The Greeks used a limited number of spatial components, influencing the
plan A plan is typically any diagram or list of steps with details of timing and resources, used to achieve an objective to do something. It is commonly understood as a temporal set of intended actions through which one expects to achieve a goal. ...
, and of architectural members, determining the
elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § ...
.


Floor plan


The central cult structure of the temple is the or '' cella'', which usually contained a
cult statue In the practice of religion, a cult image is a human-made object that is venerated or worshipped for the deity, spirit or daemon that it embodies or represents. In several traditions, including the ancient religions of Egypt, Greece and Ro ...
of the deity. In Archaic temples, a separate room, the so-called '' adyton'' was sometimes included after the for this purpose. In
Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...
, this habit continued into the Classical period.


and

In front of the , there is a porch, the ''
pronaos A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...
'', created by the protruding side walls of the (the ''
antae The Antes, or Antae ( gr, Ἄνται), were an early East Slavic tribal polity of the 6th century CE. They lived on the lower Danube River, in the northwestern Black Sea region (present-day Moldova and central Ukraine), and in the regions ...
)'', and two columns placed between them. A door allows the to be accessed from the . A similar room at the back of the is called the '' opisthodomos''. There is no door connecting the with the ; its existence is necessitated entirely by aesthetic considerations: to maintain the consistency of the peripteral temple and to ensure its visibility from all sides, the execution of the front has to be repeated at the rear. A restricted space, the , may be included at the far end of the , backing up on the .


The complex formed by the , , and possibly the is enclosed on all four sides by the '' peristasis'', usually a single row, rarely a double one, of columns. This produces a surrounding colonnade, the '' pteron'', which offered shelter to visitors of the sanctuary and room for cult processions. File:Peripteros-Plan-Pronaos-bjs.png, File:Peripteros-Plan-Cella-bjs.png, or File:Peripteros-Plan-Adyton-bjs.svg, (exceptional) File:Peripteros-Plan-Opisthodom-bjs.png, (sometimes omitted) File:Peripteros-Plan-Naos-bjs.png, + + +


Plan types

These components allowed the realisation of a variety of different plan types in Greek temple architecture. The simplest example of a Greek temple is the , a small rectangular structure sheltering the cult statue. In front of the , a small porch or was formed by the protruding walls, the ''
antae The Antes, or Antae ( gr, Ἄνται), were an early East Slavic tribal polity of the 6th century CE. They lived on the lower Danube River, in the northwestern Black Sea region (present-day Moldova and central Ukraine), and in the regions ...
''. The was linked to the by a door. To support the superstructure, two columns were placed between the ( distyle ''in antis''). When equipped with an '' opisthodomos'' with a similar design, this is called a double temple. A variant of that type has the at the back of the indicated merely by half-columns and shortened , so that it can be described as a . If the porch of a temple has a row of usually four or six columns in front of its whole breadth, the temple is described as a or
prostyle Prostyle is an architectural term designating temples (especially Greek and Roman) featuring a row of columns on the front. The term is often used as an adjective when referring to the portico of a classical building, which projects from the ...
temples. The whole may be omitted in this case or just leave the without columns. An ''amphiprostylos'' or amphiprostyle repeats the same column setting at the back. In contrast, the term '' peripteros'' or peripteral designates a temple 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 are indicated only by
engaged column In architecture, an engaged column is a column embedded in a wall and partly projecting from the surface of the wall, sometimes defined as semi- or three-quarter detached. Engaged columns are rarely found in classical Greek architecture, and then ...
s or
pilaster In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wal ...
s directly attached to the external walls. A or ''
dipteral This page is a glossary of architecture. A B C The Caryatid Porch of the Erech ...
'' is equipped with a double colonnade on all four sides, sometimes with further rows of columns at the front and back. A has engaged columns in the inner row of columns at the sides. Circular temples form a special type. If they are surrounded by a colonnade, they are known as peripteral '' tholoi''. Although of sacred character, their function as a temple can often not be asserted. A comparable structure is the ''
monopteros A monopteros (Ancient Greek: , from the Polytonic: μόνος, 'only, single, alone', and , 'wing') is a circular colonnade supporting a roof but without any walls. Unlike a tholos (in its wider sense as a circular building), it does not have w ...
'', or '' cyclostyle'' which, however, lacks a . To clarify ground plan types, the defining terms can be combined, producing terms such as: peripteral double temple, prostyle , peripteral amphiprostyle, etc.


Column number terminology

An additional definition, already used by
Vitruvius Vitruvius (; c. 80–70 BC – after c. 15 BC) was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work entitled '' De architectura''. He originated the idea that all buildings should have three attribut ...
(IV, 3, 3) is determined by the number of columns at the front. Modern scholarship uses the following terms: The term is only used for the 12-column hall at the
Didyma Didyma (; grc, Δίδυμα) was an ancient Greek sanctuary on the coast of Ionia in the domain of the famous city of Miletus. Apollo was the main deity of the sanctuary of Didyma, also called ''Didymaion''. But it was home to both of the te ...
ion. No temples with facades of that width are known. Very few temples had an uneven number of columns at the front. Examples are Temple of
Hera In ancient Greek religion, Hera (; grc-gre, Ἥρα, Hḗrā; grc, Ἥρη, Hḗrē, label=none in Ionic and Homeric Greek) is the goddess of marriage, women and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. In Greek mythology, she ...
I at
Paestum Paestum ( , , ) was a major ancient Greek city on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea in Magna Graecia (southern Italy). The ruins of Paestum are famous for their three ancient Greek temples in the Doric order, dating from about 550 to 450 BC, whi ...
, Temple of
Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
A at
Metapontum Metapontum or Metapontium ( grc, Μεταπόντιον, Metapontion) was an important city of Magna Graecia, situated on the gulf of Tarentum, between the river Bradanus and the Casuentus (modern Basento). It was distant about 20 km from ...
, both of which have a width of nine columns (enneastyle), and the Archaic temple at Thermos with a width of five columns (pentastyle).


Elevation

The elevation of Greek temples is always subdivided in three zones: the ''
crepidoma Crepidoma is an architectural term for part of the structure of ancient Greek buildings. The crepidoma is the multilevel platform on which the superstructure of the building is erected. The crepidoma usually has three levels. Each level typi ...
'', the
column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression (physical), compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column i ...
s and the
entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...
.


Foundations and

Stereobate, and form the substructure of the temple. The underground foundation of a Greek temple is known as the stereobate. It consists of several layers of squared stone blocks. The uppermost layer, the '' euthynteria'', partially protrudes above the ground level. Its surface is carefully smoothed and levelled. It supports a further foundation of three steps, the ''
crepidoma Crepidoma is an architectural term for part of the structure of ancient Greek buildings. The crepidoma is the multilevel platform on which the superstructure of the building is erected. The crepidoma usually has three levels. Each level typi ...
''. The uppermost level of the provides the surface on which the columns and walls are placed; it is called stylobate.


Columns

Placed on the stylobate are the vertical column shafts, tapering towards the top. They are normally made of several separately cut column drums. Depending on the architectural order, a different number of flutings are cut into the column shaft: Doric columns have 18 to 20 flutings, Ionic and Corinthian ones normally have 24. Early Ionic columns had up to 48 flutings. While Doric columns stand directly on the stylobate, Ionic and Corinthian ones possess a base, sometimes additionally placed atop a
plinth A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In ...
. In
Doric column The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of co ...
s, the top is formed by a concavely curved neck, the ''
hypotrachelion The hypotrachelium is the upper part or groove in the shaft of a Doric column, beneath the trachelium. The Greek form is ''hypotrakhelion''. In classical architecture, it is the space between the annulet of the echinus and the upper bed of the ...
'', and the
capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...
, in Ionic columns, the capital sits directly on the shaft. In the Doric order, the capital consists of a circular
torus In geometry, a torus (plural tori, colloquially donut or doughnut) is a surface of revolution generated by revolving a circle in three-dimensional space about an axis that is coplanar with the circle. If the axis of revolution does n ...
bulge, originally very flat, the so-called '' echinus'', and a square slab, the ''
abacus The abacus (''plural'' abaci or abacuses), also called a counting frame, is a calculating tool which has been used since ancient times. It was used in the ancient Near East, Europe, China, and Russia, centuries before the adoption of the Hi ...
''. In the course of their development, the ''echinus'' expands more and more, culminating in a linear diagonal, at 45° to the vertical. The of
Ionic columns The Ionic order is one of the three canonic orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric and the Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan (a plainer Doric), and the rich variant of Corinthian called the composite o ...
is decorated with an egg-and-dart band followed by a sculpted pillow forming two
volute A volute is a spiral, scroll-like ornament that forms the basis of the Ionic order, found in the capital of the Ionic column. It was later incorporated into Corinthian order and Composite column capitals. Four are normally to be found on an Ion ...
s, supporting a thin . The eponymous Corinthian capital of the
Corinthian order The Corinthian order ( Greek: Κορινθιακός ρυθμός, Latin: ''Ordo Corinthius'') is the last developed of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order ...
is crowned by rings of stylised acanthus leaves, forming tendrils and volutes that reach to the corners of the .


Entablature

The capitals support the
entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...
. In the Doric order, the entablature always consists of two parts, the
architrave In classical architecture, an architrave (; from it, architrave "chief beam", also called an epistyle; from Greek ἐπίστυλον ''epistylon'' "door frame") is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of columns. The term can a ...
and the Doric
frieze In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...
(or
triglyph Triglyph is an architectural term for the vertically channeled tablets of the Doric frieze in classical architecture, so called because of the angular channels in them. The rectangular recessed spaces between the triglyphs on a Doric frieze are ...
frieze). The Ionic order of Athens and the
Cyclades The Cyclades (; el, Κυκλάδες, ) are an island group in the Aegean Sea, southeast of mainland Greece and a former administrative prefecture of Greece. They are one of the island groups which constitute the Aegean archipelago. The name ...
also used a frieze above an architrave, whereas the frieze remained unknown in the Ionic architecture of
Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
until the 4th century BCE. There, the architrave was directly followed by the ''
dentil A dentil (from Lat. ''dens'', a tooth) is a small block used as a repeating ornament in the bedmould of a cornice. Dentils are found in ancient Greek and Roman architecture, and also in later styles such as Neoclassical, Federal, Georgian R ...
s''. The frieze was originally placed in front of the roof beams, which were externally visible only in the earlier temples of Asia Minor. The Doric
frieze In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...
was structured by
triglyph Triglyph is an architectural term for the vertically channeled tablets of the Doric frieze in classical architecture, so called because of the angular channels in them. The rectangular recessed spaces between the triglyphs on a Doric frieze are ...
s. These were placed above the axis of each column, and above the centre of each
intercolumniation In architecture, intercolumniation is the proportional spacing between columns in a colonnade, often expressed as a multiple of the column diameter as measured at the bottom of the shaft. In Classical, Renaissance, and Baroque architecture, i ...
. The spaces between the triglyphs contained metopes, sometimes painted or decorated with relief sculpture. In the Ionic or Corinthian orders, the frieze possesses no triglyphs and is simply left flat, sometimes decorated with paintings or reliefs. With the introduction of stone architecture, the protection of the porticos and the support of the roof construction was moved upwards to the level of the '' geison'', depriving the frieze of its structural function and turning it into an entirely decorative feature. Frequently, the is also decorated with architrave and frieze, especially at the front of the ''
pronaos A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...
''.


Cornice and

Above the frieze, or an intermediate member, e.g. the
dentil A dentil (from Lat. ''dens'', a tooth) is a small block used as a repeating ornament in the bedmould of a cornice. Dentils are found in ancient Greek and Roman architecture, and also in later styles such as Neoclassical, Federal, Georgian R ...
of the Ionic or Corinthian orders, the
cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...
protrudes notably. It consists of the '' geison'' (on the sloped sides or
pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedim ...
s of the narrow walls a sloped ), and the ''
sima Sima or SIMA may refer to: People * Sima (Chinese surname) * Sima (given name), a Persian feminine name in use in Iran and Turkey * Sima (surname) Places * Sima, Comoros, on the island of Anjouan, near Madagascar * Sima de los Huesos, a cav ...
''. On the long side, the , often elaborately decorated, was equipped with water spouts, often in the shape of lions' heads. The pedimental triangle or '' tympanon'' on the narrow sides of the temple was created by the Doric introduction of the gabled roof, earlier temples often had hipped roofs. The was usually richly decorated with
pedimental sculpture Pedimental sculpture is a form of architectural sculpture designed for installation in the tympanum, the space enclosed by the architectural element called the pediment. Originally a feature of Ancient Greek architecture, pedimental sculpture ...
of mythical scenes or battles. The corners and ridges of the roof were decorated with ''
acroteria An acroterion, acroterium, or akroteria is an architectural ornament placed on a flat pedestal called the ''acroter'' or plinth, and mounted at the apex or corner of the pediment of a building in the classical style. An acroterion placed at ...
'', originally geometric, later floral or figural decorations.


Aspect

As far as topographically possible, the temples were freestanding and designed to be viewed from all sides. They were not normally designed with consideration for their surroundings, but formed autonomous structures. This is a major difference from
Roman temple Ancient Roman temples were among the most important buildings in Roman culture, and some of the richest buildings in Roman architecture, though only a few survive in any sort of complete state. Today they remain "the most obvious symbol of ...
s which were often designed as part of a planned urban area or square and had a strong emphasis on being viewed frontally.


Design and measurements


Proportions

The foundations of Greek temples could reach dimensions of up to 115 by 55 m, i.e. the size of an average
football pitch A football pitch (also known as soccer field) is the playing surface for the game of association football. Its dimensions and markings are defined by Law 1 of the Laws of the Game, "The Field of Play". The pitch is typically made of natural t ...
. Columns could reach a height of 20 m. To design such large architectural bodies harmoniously, a number of basic aesthetic principles were developed and tested already on the smaller temples. 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. Important factors include the lower diameter of the columns and the width of their plinths. The distance between the column axes (
intercolumniation In architecture, intercolumniation is the proportional spacing between columns in a colonnade, often expressed as a multiple of the column diameter as measured at the bottom of the shaft. In Classical, Renaissance, and Baroque architecture, i ...
or
bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a na ...
) could also be used as a basic unit. These measurements were in set proportions to other elements of design, such as column height and column distance. In conjunction with the number of columns per side, they also determined the dimensions of stylobate and '' peristasis'', 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. Alternatives to this very rational system were sought in the temples of the late 7th and early 6th centuries BCE, when it was attempted to develop the basic measurements from the planned dimensions of or stylobate, i.e. to reverse the system described above and deduce the smaller units from the bigger ones. Thus, for example, the length was sometimes set at (100 is a sacred number, also known from the ''
hecatomb In ancient Greece, a hecatomb (; ; grc, ἑκατόμβη ''hekatómbē'') was a sacrifice of 100 cattle (''hekaton'' = one hundred, ''bous'' = bull) to the Greek gods. In practice, as few as 12 could make up a hecatomb. Although originally the ...
'', a sacrifice of 100 animals), and all further measurements had to be in relation to this number, leading to aesthetically quite unsatisfactory solutions.


relationship

Another determining design feature was the relationship linking and . In the original temples, this would have been subject entirely to practical necessities, and always based on axial links between walls and columns, but the introduction of stone architecture broke that connection. Nevertheless, it did survive throughout Ionic architecture. In Doric temples, however, the wooden roof construction, originally placed behind the frieze, now started at a higher level, behind the . This ended the structural link between frieze and roof; the structural elements of the latter could now be placed independent of axial relationships. As a result, the walls lost their fixed connection with the columns for a long time and could be freely placed within the . Only after a long phase of developments did the architects choose the alignment of the outer wall face with the adjacent column axis as the obligatory principle for Doric temples. Doric temples in Greater Greece rarely follow this system.


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 ( to 336 BCE) had 6 × 13 columns or 5 × 11 intercolumnitions. The same proportions, in a more abstract form, determine most of the
Parthenon The Parthenon (; grc, Παρθενών, , ; ell, Παρθενώνας, , ) is a former temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, that was dedicated to the goddess Athena during the fifth century BC. Its decorative sculptures are considere ...
, not only in its 8 × 17 column , but also, reduced to 4:9, in all other basic measurements, including the intercolumniations, the stylobate, the width-height proportion of the entire building, and the (here reversed to 9:4).


Column spacing

Since the turn of the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE, the proportion of column width to the space between columns, the intercolumnium, played an increasingly important role in architectural theory, reflected, for example, in the works of
Vitruvius Vitruvius (; c. 80–70 BC – after c. 15 BC) was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work entitled '' De architectura''. He originated the idea that all buildings should have three attribut ...
. According to this proportion, Vitruvius (3, 3, 1 ff) distinguished between five different design concepts and temple types: * Pyknostyle, tight-columned: intercolumnium = 1 lower column diameters * Systyle, close-columned: intercolumnium = 2 lower column diameters * Eustyle, well-columned: intercolumnium = 2 lower column diameters * Diastyle, board-columned: interkolumnium = 3 lower column diameters * Araeostyle, light-columned: intercolumnium = 3 lower column diameters The determination and discussion of these basic principles went back to Hermogenes, whom Vitruvius credits with the invention of the . The Temple of
Dionysos In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Romans ...
at Teos, normally ascribed to Hermogenes, does indeed have intercolumnia measuring 2 1/6 of the lower column diameters.


Optical refinements

To loosen up the mathematical strictness and to counteract distortions of human visual perception, a slight
curvature In mathematics, curvature is any of several strongly related concepts in geometry. Intuitively, the curvature is the amount by which a curve deviates from being a straight line, or a surface deviates from being a plane. For curves, the can ...
of the whole building, hardly visible with the naked eye, was introduced. The ancient architects had realised that long horizontal lines tend to make the optical impression of sagging towards their centre. To prevent this effect, the horizontal lines of stylobate and/or entablature were raised by a few centimetres towards the middle of a building. This avoidance of mathematically straight lines also included the columns, which did not taper in a linear fashion, but were refined by a pronounced "swelling" ('' entasis'') of the shaft. Additionally, columns were placed with a slight
inclination Orbital inclination measures the tilt of an object's orbit around a celestial body. It is expressed as the angle between a reference plane and the orbital plane or axis of direction of the orbiting object. For a satellite orbiting the Ea ...
towards the centre of the building. Curvature and ''entasis'' occur from the mid 6th century BCE onwards. The most consistent use of these principles is seen in the Classical
Parthenon The Parthenon (; grc, Παρθενών, , ; ell, Παρθενώνας, , ) is a former temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, that was dedicated to the goddess Athena during the fifth century BC. Its decorative sculptures are considere ...
on the
Athenian Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...
Acropolis An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens, ...
. Its curvature affects all horizontal elements up to the , even the walls reflect it throughout their height. The inclination of its columns (which also have a clear ''entasis''), is continued by architrave and triglyph frieze, the external walls of the also reflect it. Not one block of the building, not a single architrave or frieze element could be hewn as a simple rectilinear block. All architectural elements display slight variations from the right angle, individually calculated for each block. As a side effect, each preserved building block from the Parthenon, its columns, walls or entablature, can be assigned its exact position today. In spite of the immense extra effort entailed in this perfection, the Parthenon, including its sculptural decoration, was completed in the record time of sixteen years (447 to 431 BCE).


Decoration


Colouring

Only three basic colours were used: white, blue and red, occasionally also black. The , columns, and architrave were mostly white. Only details, like the horizontally cut grooves at the bottom of Doric capitals (), or decorative elements of Doric architraves (e.g. '' taenia'' and '' guttae'') might be painted in different colours. The frieze was clearly structured by use of colours. In a Doric triglyph frieze, blue triglyphs alternated with red metopes, the latter often serving as a background for individually painted sculptures. Reliefs, ornaments, and pedimental sculptures were executed with a wider variety of colours and nuances. Recessed or otherwise shaded elements, like mutules or triglyph slits could be painted black. The paint was mostly applied to parts that were not load-bearing, whereas structural parts like columns or the horizontal elements of architrave and were left unpainted (if made of high-quality limestone or marble) or covered with a white
stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...
. Doric polychromy Die Baunkunst der Griechen.jpg, Original Doric
polychromy Polychrome is the "practice of decorating architectural elements, sculpture, etc., in a variety of colors." The term is used to refer to certain styles of architecture, pottery or sculpture in multiple colors. Ancient Egypt Colossal statu ...
Agrigento Concordia Tempel mit Geruest.jpg, Panel painted on the scaffolding of the Temple of Concordia site from Agrigento in 2006 Antike Polychromie 1.jpg, 1883 reconstruction of color scheme of the
entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...
on a Doric temple Ionic polychromy Die Baukunst der Griechen.jpg, Original polychromy of Ionic temples


Architectural sculpture

Greek temples were often enhanced with figural decorations. especially the
frieze In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...
areas offered space for
relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...
s and relief slabs; the
pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedim ...
al triangles often contained scenes of free-standing
sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...
. In Archaic times, even the architrave could be relief-decorated on Ionic temples, as demonstrated by the earlier temple of
Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
at
Didyma Didyma (; grc, Δίδυμα) was an ancient Greek sanctuary on the coast of Ionia in the domain of the famous city of Miletus. Apollo was the main deity of the sanctuary of Didyma, also called ''Didymaion''. But it was home to both of the te ...
. Here, the architrave corners bore
gorgon A Gorgon ( /ˈɡɔːrɡən/; plural: Gorgons, Ancient Greek: Γοργών/Γοργώ ''Gorgṓn/Gorgṓ'') is a creature in Greek mythology. Gorgons occur in the earliest examples of Greek literature. While descriptions of Gorgons vary, the te ...
s, surrounded by lions and perhaps other animals. On the other hand, the Ionic temples of Asia Minor did not possess a separate frieze to allow space for relief decoration. The most common area for relief decoration remained the frieze, either as a typical Doric triglyph frieze, with sculpted metopes, or as a continuous frieze on
Cycladic The Cyclades (; el, Κυκλάδες, ) are an island group in the Aegean Sea, southeast of mainland Greece and a former administrative prefecture of Greece. They are one of the island groups which constitute the Aegean archipelago. The nam ...
and later on Eastern Ionic temples.


Metopes

The metopes, separate individual tableaux that could usually not contain more than three figures each, usually depicted individual scenes belonging to a broader context. It is rare for scenes to be distributed over several metopes; instead, a general narrative context, usually a battle, is created by the combination of multiple isolated scenes. Other thematical contexts could be depicted in this fashion. For example, the metopes at the front and back of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia depicted the Twelve Labours of
Heracles Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptiv ...
. Individual mythological scenes, like the abduction of
Europa Europa may refer to: Places * Europe * Europa (Roman province), a province within the Diocese of Thrace * Europa (Seville Metro), Seville, Spain; a station on the Seville Metro * Europa City, Paris, France; a planned development * Europa Clif ...
or a cattle raid by the
Dioscuri Castor; grc, Κάστωρ, Kástōr, beaver. and Pollux. (or Polydeukes). are twin half-brothers in Greek and Roman mythology, known together as the Dioscuri.; grc, Διόσκουροι, Dióskouroi, sons of Zeus, links=no, from ''Dîos'' ( ...
could be thus depicted, as could scenes from the voyage of the
Argonauts The Argonauts (; Ancient Greek: ) were a band of heroes in Greek mythology, who in the years before the Trojan War (around 1300 BC) accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their name comes from their ship, ''Argo ...
or the
Trojan War In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans ( Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and ...
. The battles against the
centaurs A centaur ( ; grc, κένταυρος, kéntauros; ), or occasionally hippocentaur, is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse. Centaurs are thought of in many Greek myths as bein ...
and
Amazons In Greek mythology, the Amazons (Ancient Greek: Ἀμαζόνες ''Amazónes'', singular Ἀμαζών ''Amazōn'', via Latin ''Amāzon, -ŏnis'') are portrayed in a number of ancient epic poems and legends, such as the Labours of Hercule ...
, as well as the gigantomachy, all three depicted on the
Parthenon The Parthenon (; grc, Παρθενών, , ; ell, Παρθενώνας, , ) is a former temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, that was dedicated to the goddess Athena during the fifth century BC. Its decorative sculptures are considere ...
, were recurring themes on many temples. File:20190507 049 olympia museum (cropped).jpg, Metope from the Temple of Zeus from Olympia File:The Parthenon sculptures, British Museum (14063376069) (2) (cropped).jpg, A
centaur A centaur ( ; grc, κένταυρος, kéntauros; ), or occasionally hippocentaur, is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse. Centaurs are thought of in many Greek myths as bein ...
struggling with a Lapith on a metope from the
Parthenon The Parthenon (; grc, Παρθενών, , ; ell, Παρθενώνας, , ) is a former temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, that was dedicated to the goddess Athena during the fifth century BC. Its decorative sculptures are considere ...
, in the
British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
(London) File:South metope 27 Parthenon BM.jpg, Lapith fighting a centaur on a metope from the Parthenon, in the British Museum File:Architrave with sculpted metope showing sun god Helios in a quadriga; from temple of Athena at Troy, ca 300-280 BCE; Altes Museum, Berlin (25308440197) (cropped).jpg, Architrave with sculpted metope showing sun god
Helios In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Helios (; grc, , , Sun; Homeric Greek: ) is the god and personification of the Sun (Solar deity). His name is also Latinized as Helius, and he is often given the epithets Hyperion ("the one above") an ...
in a quadriga, from the Temple of Athena at
Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in present-day Turkey, south-west of Ç ...
, circa 300–280 BC


Friezes

Battle scenes of all kinds were also a common theme of Ionic friezes, e.g. the Gigantomachy on the temple of Hekate at Lagina, or the
Amazonomachy In Greek mythology, Amazonomachy ( English translation: "Amazon battle"; plural, Amazonomachiai ( grc, Ἀμαζονομαχίαι) or Amazonomachies) was one of various mythical battles between the ancient Greeks and the Amazons, a nation of ...
on the temple of
Artemis In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Artemis (; grc-gre, Ἄρτεμις) is the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. She was heavily identified with ...
at Magnesia on the Maeander, both from the late 2nd century BCE. Complex compositions visualised the back and forth of fighting for the viewer. Such scenes were contrasted by more quiet or peaceful ones: The Assembly of the gods and a procession dominate the 160 m long frieze that is placed on top of the walls of the
Parthenon The Parthenon (; grc, Παρθενών, , ; ell, Παρθενώνας, , ) is a former temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, that was dedicated to the goddess Athena during the fifth century BC. Its decorative sculptures are considere ...
. Afaia temple, Aegina, 176093.jpg, Doric frieze of the Temple of Aphaea from
Aegina Aegina (; el, Αίγινα, ''Aígina'' ; grc, Αἴγῑνα) is one of the Saronic Islands of Greece in the Saronic Gulf, from Athens. Tradition derives the name from Aegina, the mother of the hero Aeacus, who was born on the island an ...
(Greece), with
triglyph Triglyph is an architectural term for the vertically channeled tablets of the Doric frieze in classical architecture, so called because of the angular channels in them. The rectangular recessed spaces between the triglyphs on a Doric frieze are ...
s and metopes Ionic frieze from the Erechtheum, dimensions 130 x 50 cm, in the Glyptothek.jpg, Ionic frieze from the Erechtheum, in the
Glyptothek The Glyptothek () is a museum in Munich, Germany, which was commissioned by the Bavarian King Ludwig I to house his collection of Greek and Roman sculptures (hence γλυπτο- ''glypto-'' "sculpture", from the Greek verb γλύφειν ''glyphe ...
(
Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...
, Germany) Parthenon frieze w facade in situ.jpg, Part of the Parthenon Frieze, ''
in situ ''In situ'' (; often not italicized in English) is a Latin phrase that translates literally to "on site" or "in position." It can mean "locally", "on site", "on the premises", or "in place" to describe where an event takes place and is used in ...
'' on the west side of the ''naos'' Amazon Frieze BM GR 1865.7-23.1 n01.jpg, Detail of the frieze with Amazonomachy from the
Mausoleum at Halicarnassus The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus or Tomb of Mausolus ( grc, Μαυσωλεῖον τῆς Ἁλικαρνασσοῦ; tr, Halikarnas Mozolesi) was a tomb built between 353 and 350 BC in Halicarnassus (present Bodrum, Turkey) for Mausolus, a ...
, in the
British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
(London)


Pediments

Special attention was paid to the decoration of the
pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedim ...
s, not least because of their size and frontal position.
Pedimental sculpture Pedimental sculpture is a form of architectural sculpture designed for installation in the tympanum, the space enclosed by the architectural element called the pediment. Originally a feature of Ancient Greek architecture, pedimental sculpture ...
was originally in massive
relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...
figures, as in the earliest to survive, from shortly after 600 BCE, on the temple of
Artemis In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Artemis (; grc-gre, Ἄρτεμις) is the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. She was heavily identified with ...
at Kerkyra, where the west pediment is taken up by the
gorgon A Gorgon ( /ˈɡɔːrɡən/; plural: Gorgons, Ancient Greek: Γοργών/Γοργώ ''Gorgṓn/Gorgṓ'') is a creature in Greek mythology. Gorgons occur in the earliest examples of Greek literature. While descriptions of Gorgons vary, the te ...
Medusa In Greek mythology, Medusa (; Ancient Greek: Μέδουσα "guardian, protectress"), also called Gorgo, was one of the three monstrous Gorgons, generally described as winged human females with living venomous snakes in place of hair. Those ...
and her children at the centre, flanked by panthers. Smaller scenes are displayed in the low corners of the pediments, including
Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label= genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label= genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek relig ...
with a thunderbolt, fighting a
Giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: ''gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of human-like appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 fr ...
. The pedimental sculpture of the first peripteral temple on the Athenian Acropolis, from , is nearly free-standing sculpture, but remains dominated by a central scene of fighting lions. Again, the corners contain separate scenes, including
Heracles Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptiv ...
fighting
Triton Triton commonly refers to: * Triton (mythology), a Greek god * Triton (moon), a satellite of Neptune Triton may also refer to: Biology * Triton cockatoo, a parrot * Triton (gastropod), a group of sea snails * ''Triton'', a synonym of ''Triturus'' ...
. After the mid-6th century BCE, the compositional scheme changes: animal scenes are now placed in the corners, soon they disappear entirely. The central composition is now taken over by mythological fights or by rows of human figures, and the figures become free-standing, as in the
Elgin Marbles The Elgin Marbles (), also known as the Parthenon Marbles ( el, Γλυπτά του Παρθενώνα, lit. "sculptures of the Parthenon"), are a collection of Classical Greece, Classical Greek marble sculptures made under the supervision of th ...
from the
Parthenon The Parthenon (; grc, Παρθενών, , ; ell, Παρθενώνας, , ) is a former temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, that was dedicated to the goddess Athena during the fifth century BC. Its decorative sculptures are considere ...
. The high regard in which the Greeks held pedimental sculptures is demonstrated by the discovery of the sculptures from the Late Archaic temple of
Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
at
Delphi Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), in ancient times was a sacred precinct that served as the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient classical world. The orac ...
, which had received a veritable burial after the temple's destruction in 373 BCE. The themes of the individual pedimental scenes are increasingly dominated by myths connected with the locality. Thus, the east pediment at Olympia depicts the preparations for a chariot race between
Pelops In Greek mythology, Pelops (; ) was king of Pisa in the Peloponnesus region (, lit. "Pelops' Island"). He was the son of Tantalus and the father of Atreus. He was venerated at Olympia, where his cult developed into the founding myth of the O ...
and
Oinomaos In Greek mythology, King Oenomaus (also Oenamaus; grc-gre, Οἰνόμαος, ''Oἱnómaos'') of Pisa, was the father of Hippodamia and the son of Ares. His name ''Oinomaos'' denotes a wine man. Family Oenomaeus' mother was either naiad Harp ...
, the mythical king of nearby
Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the ci ...
. It is the foundation myth of the sanctuary itself, displayed here in its most prominent position. A similarly direct association is provided by the birth of
Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of v ...
on the east pediment of the
Parthenon The Parthenon (; grc, Παρθενών, , ; ell, Παρθενώνας, , ) is a former temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, that was dedicated to the goddess Athena during the fifth century BC. Its decorative sculptures are considere ...
, or the struggle for
Attica Attica ( el, Αττική, Ancient Greek ''Attikḗ'' or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the city of Athens, the capital of Greece and its countryside. It is a peninsula projecting into the Aegean ...
between her and
Poseidon Poseidon (; grc-gre, Ποσειδῶν) was one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and myth, god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was venerated as ...
on its west pediment. The pediment of the later temple of the Kabeiroi at
Samothrace Samothrace (also known as Samothraki, el, Σαμοθράκη, ) is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea. It is a municipality within the Evros regional unit of Thrace. The island is long and is in size and has a population of 2,859 (2011 ...
, late 3rd century BCE, depicted a probably purely local legend, of no major interest to Greece as a whole. Apol·lo, escultura central del frontó occidental del temple de Zeus, Museu Arqueològic d'Olímpia.JPG, Statue of
Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
from the west pediment of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia File:Pediments of the Parthenon as they were in 1683 - Stuart James & Revett Nicholas - 1816.jpg, Illustrations with the sculptures of the two pediments of the Parthenon, by James Stuart & Nicholas Revett in 1794 Templo de Atenea Nike, Atenas, Grecia, 2019 03.jpg, The
Temple of Athena Nike A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose tem ...
with its very damaged pediments


Roofs

The roofs were crowned by ''
acroteria An acroterion, acroterium, or akroteria is an architectural ornament placed on a flat pedestal called the ''acroter'' or plinth, and mounted at the apex or corner of the pediment of a building in the classical style. An acroterion placed at ...
'', originally in the form of elaborately painted clay disks, from the 6th century BCE onwards as fully sculpted figures placed on the corners and ridges of the pediments. They could depict bowls and tripods,
griffin The griffin, griffon, or gryphon ( Ancient Greek: , ''gryps''; Classical Latin: ''grȳps'' or ''grȳpus''; Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a legendary creature with the body, tail, and ...
s,
sphinx A sphinx ( , grc, σφίγξ , Boeotian: , plural sphinxes or sphinges) is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of a falcon. In Greek tradition, the sphinx has the head of a woman, the haunches of ...
es, and especially mythical figures and deities. For example, depictions of the running Nike crowned the Alcmaeonid temple of Apollo at Delphi, and mounted amazons formed the corner of the temple of
Asklepios Asclepius (; grc-gre, Ἀσκληπιός ''Asklēpiós'' ; la, Aesculapius) is a hero and god of medicine in ancient Religion in ancient Greece, Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology. He is the son of Apollo and Coronis (lover of ...
in Epidauros. Pausanias (5, 10, 8) describes bronze tripods forming the corner and statues of Nike by
Paeonios Paeonius ( grc-gre, Παιώνιος ''Paiṓnios'') of Mende, Chalkidiki was a Greek sculptor of the late 5th century BC. He most likely received his early training in Northern Greece and is thought to have later adapted Athenian stylistic ele ...
forming the ridge ones on the Temple of Zeus at Olympia. Orna105-Stirnziege.png, Illustrations with examples of acroteria Marble akroterion MET DT259543.jpg,
Akroterion An acroterion, acroterium, or akroteria is an architectural ornament placed on a flat pedestal called the ''acroter'' or plinth, and mounted at the apex or corner of the pediment of a building in the classical style. An acroterion placed at ...
, 350-325 BC, marble, in the
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
(New York City) Antefix, Nordisk familjebok.png, Illustration which shows antefixes in position Gorgona pushkin.jpg, Antefix with
Medusa In Greek mythology, Medusa (; Ancient Greek: Μέδουσα "guardian, protectress"), also called Gorgo, was one of the three monstrous Gorgons, generally described as winged human females with living venomous snakes in place of hair. Those ...
, 6th or 5th centuries BC, ceramic,
Pushkin Museum The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (russian: Музей изобразительных искусств имени А. С. Пушкина, abbreviated as ) is the largest museum of European art in Moscow, located in Volkhonka street, just oppo ...
(Moscow)


Columns

For the sake of completeness, a further potential bearer of sculptural decoration should be mentioned here: the of the Ionic temples at Ephesos and
Didyma Didyma (; grc, Δίδυμα) was an ancient Greek sanctuary on the coast of Ionia in the domain of the famous city of Miletus. Apollo was the main deity of the sanctuary of Didyma, also called ''Didymaion''. But it was home to both of the te ...
. Here, already on the Archaic temples, the lower parts of the column shafts were decorated by protruding relief decorations, originally depicting rows of figures, replaced on their late Classical and Hellenistic successors with mythological scenes and battles. Greece Cape Sounion BW 2017-10-09 10-12-43.jpg, The ruins of the Temple of Poseidon from Sounion (Greece), 444–440 BC Ερέχθειο 4984.jpg, The North Porch of the Erechtheum from the
Acropolis of Athens The Acropolis of Athens is an ancient citadel located on a rocky outcrop above the city of Athens and contains the remains of several ancient buildings of great architectural and historical significance, the most famous being the Parthenon. Th ...
20190514 669 athenes.jpg, Base of an Ionic column of the North Porch of the Erechtheum Temple Of Olympian Zeus - Olympieion (retouched).jpg, The ruins of the Temple of Olympian Zeus from
Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...


Function and design


Cult statue and

The functions of the temple mainly concentrated on the '' naos'', the "dwelling" of the cult statue. The elaboration of the temple's external aspects served to stress the dignity of the . In contrast, the itself was often finished with some moderation, although by the Roman period some had clearly become rather cluttered with other statues, military trophies and other gifts. Often, the only source of light for and cult statue was the ''s frontal door, and oil lamps within. Thus, the interior only received a limited amount of light. Exceptions are found in the temples of Apollo at Bassae and of Athena at
Tegea Tegea (; el, Τεγέα) was a settlement in ancient Arcadia, and it is also a former municipality in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the Tripoli municipality, of which it is a municipal un ...
, where the southern wall had a door, potentially allowing more light into the interior. A special situation applies to the temples of the
Cyclades The Cyclades (; el, Κυκλάδες, ) are an island group in the Aegean Sea, southeast of mainland Greece and a former administrative prefecture of Greece. They are one of the island groups which constitute the Aegean archipelago. The name ...
, where the roof was usually of
marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...
tiles. Marble roofs also covered the temple of
Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label= genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label= genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek relig ...
at Olympia and the
Parthenon The Parthenon (; grc, Παρθενών, , ; ell, Παρθενώνας, , ) is a former temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, that was dedicated to the goddess Athena during the fifth century BC. Its decorative sculptures are considere ...
at
Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...
. As marble is not entirely opaque, those may have been permeated with a distinctive diffused light. For cultic reasons, but also to use the light of the rising sun, virtually all Greek temples were oriented with the main door to the east. Another reason for the orientation of temples facing east is because of the west was seen as the entrance to the Underworld, such as seen in the Odyssey. Some exceptions existed, e.g. the west-facing temples of
Artemis In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Artemis (; grc-gre, Ἄρτεμις) is the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. She was heavily identified with ...
at Ephesos and at Magnesia on the Maeander, or the north–south oriented temples of Arcadia. Such exceptions are probably connected with cult practice. Study of the soils around temple sites, is evidence that temple sites were chosen with regard to particular deities: for example, amid arable soils for the agricultural deities Dionysos and Demeter, and near rocky soils for the hunter gatherer deities Apollo and Artemis. The cult image normally took the form of a statue of the deity, typically roughly life-size, but in some cases many times life-size, in early days in wood, marble or
terracotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terra ...
, or in the specially prestigious form of a
chryselephantine statue Chryselephantine sculpture (from Greek grc, χρυσός, chrysós, gold, label=none, and grc, ελεφάντινος, elephántinos, ivory, label=none) is sculpture made with gold and ivory. Chryselephantine cult statues enjoyed high stat ...
using ivory plaques for the visible parts of the body and gold for the clothes, around a wooden framework. The most famous Greek cult images were of this type, including the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, and Phidias's Athena Parthenos in the
Parthenon The Parthenon (; grc, Παρθενών, , ; ell, Παρθενώνας, , ) is a former temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, that was dedicated to the goddess Athena during the fifth century BC. Its decorative sculptures are considere ...
in Athens, both colossal statues now completely lost. Fragments of two chryselephantine statues from
Delphi Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), in ancient times was a sacred precinct that served as the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient classical world. The orac ...
have been excavated. Bronze cult images were less frequent, at least until Hellenistic times.Miles, 213 The acrolith was another composite form, this time a cost-saving one with a wooden body. A ''
xoanon A xoanon (, el, ξόανον; plural: el, ξόανα , from the verb el, ξέειν, , to carve or scrape ood was an Archaic wooden cult image of Ancient Greece. Classical Greeks associated such cult objects, whether aniconic or effigy, wit ...
'' was a primitive and symbolic wooden image, perhaps comparable to the Hindu
lingam A lingam ( sa, लिङ्ग , lit. "sign, symbol or mark"), sometimes referred to as linga or Shiva linga, is an abstract or aniconic representation of the Hindu god Shiva in Shaivism. It is typically the primary '' murti'' or devoti ...
; many of these were retained and revered for their antiquity. Many of the Greek statues well known from Roman marble copies were originally temple cult images, which in some cases, such as the Apollo Barberini, can be credibly identified. A very few actual originals survive, for example the bronze
Piraeus Athena The Piraeus Athena is a bronze statue dated to the fourth century BCE. It currently resides in the Archaeological Museum of Piraeus. Discovery The Piraeus Athena was discovered in 1959, by workers who were drilling underground to install pipes. B ...
(2.35 metres high, including a helmet). The image stood on a base, from the 5th century often carved with reliefs.


Refinements

The cult statue was often oriented towards an
altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in pagan ...
, placed axially in front of the temple. To preserve this connection, the single row of columns often found along the central axis of the in early temples was replaced by two separate rows towards the sides. The central one of the three aisles thereby created was often emphasised as the main one. The dignity of the central aisle of the could be underlined by the use of special elements of design. For example, the oldest known
Corinthian capital The Corinthian order (Greek: Κορινθιακός ρυθμός, Latin: ''Ordo Corinthius'') is the last developed of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order w ...
s are from the '' naoi'' of Doric temples. The impressiveness of the internal aisle could be emphasised further by having a third row of columns along the back, as is the case at the
Parthenon The Parthenon (; grc, Παρθενών, , ; ell, Παρθενώνας, , ) is a former temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, that was dedicated to the goddess Athena during the fifth century BC. Its decorative sculptures are considere ...
and at the temple of
Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label= genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label= genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek relig ...
in
Nemea Nemea (; grc, Νεμέα; grc-x-ionic, Νεμέη) is an ancient site in the northeastern part of the Peloponnese, in Greece. Formerly part of the territory of Cleonae in ancient Argolis, it is today situated in the regional unit of Corinth ...
. The Parthenon , also had another impressive feature, namely two tiers of columns atop each other, as did the temple of
Aphaia Aphaea ( grc-gre, Ἀφαία, ''Aphaía'') was a Greek goddess who was worshipped almost exclusively at a single sanctuary on the island of Aegina in the Saronic Gulf. Cult and worship She originated as early as the 14th century BCE as a loc ...
on
Aegina Aegina (; el, Αίγινα, ''Aígina'' ; grc, Αἴγῑνα) is one of the Saronic Islands of Greece in the Saronic Gulf, from Athens. Tradition derives the name from Aegina, the mother of the hero Aeacus, who was born on the island an ...
. The temple of Athena at
Tegea Tegea (; el, Τεγέα) was a settlement in ancient Arcadia, and it is also a former municipality in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the Tripoli municipality, of which it is a municipal un ...
shows another variation, where the two column rows are indicated by half-columns protruding from the side walls and crowned with Corinthian capitals. An early form of this solution can be seen at Bassae, where the central column of the back portico remains free-standing, while the columns along the sides are in fact semi-columns connected with the walls by curved protrusions. Some famous temples, notably the Parthenon, the
Temple of Zeus at Olympia The Temple of Zeus at Olympia was an ancient Greek temple in Olympia, Greece, dedicated to the god Zeus. The temple, built in the second quarter of the fifth century BC, was the very model of the fully developed classical Greek temple of the Do ...
, and the Temple of Asclepius, Epidaurus, had much of the floor occupied by a very shallow pool filled with water (Parthenon) or
olive oil Olive oil is a liquid fat obtained from olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea''; family Oleaceae), a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin, produced by pressing whole olives and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking: ...
at Olympia. All these had chryselephantine images, and Pausanias was perhaps correct to link the Parthenon one with the maintenance of the proper humidity, but they probably increased the light, and perhaps gave it attractive effects of reflections.


Access

It used to be thought that access to the of a Greek temple was limited to the priests, and it was entered only rarely by other visitors, except perhaps during important festivals or other special occasions. In recent decades this picture has changed, and scholars now stress the variety of local access rules. Pausanias was a gentlemanly traveller of the 2nd-century AD who declares that the special intention of his travels around Greece was to see cult images, which he usually managed to do. It was typically necessary to make a sacrifice or gift, and some temples restricted access either to certain days of the year, or by class, race, gender (with either men or women forbidden), or even more tightly. Garlic-eaters were forbidden in one temple, in another women unless they were virgins; restrictions typically arose from local ideas of ritual purity or a perceived whim of the deity. In some places visitors were asked to show they spoke Greek; elsewhere
Dorians The Dorians (; el, Δωριεῖς, ''Dōrieîs'', singular , ''Dōrieús'') were one of the four major ethnic groups into which the Hellenes (or Greeks) of Classical Greece divided themselves (along with the Aeolians, Achaeans, and Ioni ...
were not allowed entry. Some temples could only be viewed from the threshold. Some temples are said never to be opened at all. But generally Greeks, including slaves, had a reasonable expectation of being allowed into the . Once inside the it was possible to pray to or before the cult image, and sometimes to touch it; Cicero saw a bronze image of Heracles with its foot largely worn away by the touch of devotees. Famous cult images such as the Statue of Zeus at Olympia functioned as significant visitor attractions. Sometimes, the divine character of the cult image was stressed even more by removing it further into a separate space within the , the '' adyton''. Especially in
Magna Graecia Magna Graecia (, ; , , grc, Μεγάλη Ἑλλάς, ', it, Magna Grecia) was the name given by the Romans to the coastal areas of Southern Italy in the present-day Italian regions of Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Campania and Sicily; the ...
, this tradition continued for a long time. Over the decades and centuries, numerous votive offerings could be placed in the , giving it a museum-like character (Pausanias 5, 17).


The back room of the temple, the , usually served as a storage space for cult equipment. It could also hold the temple treasury. For some time, the of the Athenian
Parthenon The Parthenon (; grc, Παρθενών, , ; ell, Παρθενώνας, , ) is a former temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, that was dedicated to the goddess Athena during the fifth century BC. Its decorative sculptures are considere ...
contained the treasury of the
Delian League The Delian League, founded in 478 BC, was an association of Greek city-states, numbering between 150 and 330, under the leadership of Athens, whose purpose was to continue fighting the Persian Empire after the Greek victory in the Battle of Pla ...
, thus directly protected by the deity. and were often closed off from the by wooden barriers or fences.


Like the , the could serve the display and storage of votives, often placed between the columns. In some cases, votive offerings could also be directly affixed to the columns, as is visible e.g. on the Temple of Hera at Olympia. The could also be used for cult
procession A procession is an organized body of people walking in a formal or ceremonial manner. History Processions have in all peoples and at all times been a natural form of public celebration, as forming an orderly and impressive ceremony. Religious ...
s, or simply as shelter from the elements, a function emphasised by Vitruvius (III 3, 8f).


Sponsors, construction and costs


Public and private sponsors

The sponsors of Greek temples usually belonged to one of two groups: on the one hand public sponsors, including the bodies and institutions that administrated important sanctuaries; on the other hand influential and affluent private sponsors, especially Hellenistic
king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen regnant, queen, which title is also given to the queen consort, consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contempora ...
s. The financial needs were covered by income from taxes or special levies, or by the sale of raw materials like silver. The collection of donations also occurred, especially for supra-regional sanctuaries like
Delphi Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), in ancient times was a sacred precinct that served as the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient classical world. The orac ...
or Olympia. Hellenistic monarchs could appear as private donors in cities outside their immediate sphere of influence and sponsor public buildings, as exemplified by Antiochos IV, who ordered the rebuilding of the
Olympieion The Temple of Olympian Zeus ( grc-gre, Ναός του Ολυμπίου Διός, ), also known as the Olympieion or Columns of the Olympian Zeus, is a former colossal temple at the center of the Greek capital Athens. It was dedicated to "Olym ...
at
Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...
. In such cases, the money came from the private treasury of the donor.


Organization

Building contracts were advertised after a popular or elected assembly had passed the relevant motion. An appointed committee would choose the winner among the submitted plans. Afterwards, another committee would supervise the building process. Its responsibilities included the advertising and awarding of individual contracts, the practical supervision of the construction, the inspection and acceptance of completed parts, and the paying of wages. The original advert contained all the information necessary to enable a contractor to make a realistic offer for completing the task. Contracts were normally awarded to the competitor offering the most complete service for the cheapest price. In the case of public buildings, the materials were normally provided by the public sponsor, exceptions were clarified in the contract. Contractors were usually only responsible for specific parts of the overall construction, as most businesses were small. Originally, payment was by person and day, but from the 5th century BCE onward, payment by piece or construction stage became common.


Costs

The costs could be immense. For example, surviving receipts show that in the rebuilding of the Artemision of Ephesos, a single column cost 40,000
drachmas The drachma ( el, δραχμή , ; pl. ''drachmae'' or ''drachmas'') was the currency used in Greece during several periods in its history: # An ancient Greek currency unit issued by many Greek city states during a period of ten centuries, fr ...
. Considering that a worker was paid about two drachmas, that equals nearly two million
euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...
(at a modern western European wage scale). Since the overall number of columns required for the design was 120, even this aspect of the building would have caused costs equivalent to those of major projects today (circa 360 million euro).


Temples of the different architectural orders

One of the criteria by which Greek temples are classified is the
Classical order An order in architecture is a certain assemblage of parts subject to uniform established proportions, regulated by the office that each part has to perform. Coming down to the present from Ancient Greek and Ancient Roman civilization, the arc ...
chosen as their basic aesthetic principle. This choice, which was rarely entirely free, but normally determined by tradition and local habit, would lead to widely differing rules of design. According to the three major orders, a basic distinction can be made between the
Doric Doric may refer to: * Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece ** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians * Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture * Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode * Doric dialect (Scotland) * Doric ...
, the Ionic and the Corinthian temple.


Doric temples

The modern image of Greek temple architecture is strongly influenced by the numerous reasonably well-preserved temples of the
Doric order The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of c ...
. Especially the ruins of
Southern Italy Southern Italy ( it, Sud Italia or ) also known as ''Meridione'' or ''Mezzogiorno'' (), is a macroregion of the Italian Republic consisting of its southern half. The term ''Mezzogiorno'' today refers to regions that are associated with the pe ...
and
Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...
were accessible to western travellers quite early in the development of Classical studies, e.g. the temples at
Paestum Paestum ( , , ) was a major ancient Greek city on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea in Magna Graecia (southern Italy). The ruins of Paestum are famous for their three ancient Greek temples in the Doric order, dating from about 550 to 450 BC, whi ...
, Akragas or Segesta, but the
Hephaisteion The Temple of Hephaestus or ''Hephaisteion'' (also "Hephesteum" or "Hephaesteum"; grc, Ἡφαιστεῖον, ell, Ναός Ηφαίστου, and formerly called in error the Theseion or "Theseum"; grc, Θησεῖον, ell, Θησείο), ...
and the
Parthenon The Parthenon (; grc, Παρθενών, , ; ell, Παρθενώνας, , ) is a former temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, that was dedicated to the goddess Athena during the fifth century BC. Its decorative sculptures are considere ...
of
Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...
also influenced scholarship and
Neoclassical architecture Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing sty ...
from an early point onward.


Beginnings

The beginnings of Greek temple construction in the Doric order can be traced to early in the 7th century BCE. With the transition to stone architecture around 600 BCE, the order was fully developed; from then on, only details were changed, developed and refined, mostly in the context of solving the challenges posed by the design and construction of monumental temples.


First monumental temples

Apart from early forms, occasionally still with apsidal backs and hipped roofs, the first peripteral temples occur quite soon, before 600 BCE. An example is Temple C at Thermos, , a , surrounded by a of 5 × 15 columns, its divided in two aisles by a central row of columns. Its entirely Doric entablature is indicated by painted clay plaques, probably early example of metopes, and clay triglyphs. It appears to be the case that all temples erected within the spheres of influence of
Corinth Corinth ( ; el, Κόρινθος, Kórinthos, ) is the successor to an ancient city, and is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it has been part ...
and Argos in the 7th century BCE were Doric . The earliest stone columns did not display the simple squatness of the high and late Archaic specimens, but rather mirror the slenderness of their wooden predecessors. Already around 600 BCE, the demand of viewability from all sides was applied to the Doric temple, leading to the mirroring of the frontal by an at the back. This early demand continued to affect Doric temples especially in the Greek motherland. Neither the Ionic temples, nor the Doric specimens in
Magna Graecia Magna Graecia (, ; , , grc, Μεγάλη Ἑλλάς, ', it, Magna Grecia) was the name given by the Romans to the coastal areas of Southern Italy in the present-day Italian regions of Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Campania and Sicily; the ...
followed this principle.Dieter Mertens: ''Der alte Heratempel in Paestum und die archaische Baukunst in Unteritalien''. 1993. The increasing monumentalisation of stone buildings, and the transfer of the wooden roof construction to the level of the removed the fixed relationship between the and the . This relationship between the axes of walls and columns, almost a matter of course in smaller structures, remained undefined and without fixed rules for nearly a century: the position of the "floated" within the .


Stone-built temples


=The Heraion at Olympia (c. 600 BCE)

= The Heraion of Olympia () exemplifies the transition from wood to stone construction. This building, initially constructed entirely of wood and mudbrick, had its wooden columns gradually replaced with stone ones over time. Like a museum of Doric columns and Doric capitals, it contains examples of all chronological phases, up to the Roman period. One of the columns in the remained wooden at least until the 2nd century AD, when Pausanias described it. This 6 × 16-column temple already called for a solution to the
Doric Doric may refer to: * Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece ** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians * Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture * Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode * Doric dialect (Scotland) * Doric ...
corner conflict. It was achieved through a reduction of the corner intercolumniations the so-called corner contraction. The Heraion is most advanced in regards to the relationship between and , as it uses the solution that became canonical decades later, a linear axis running along the external faces of the outer walls and through the central axis of the associated columns. Its differentiation between wider intercolumnia on the narrow sides and narrower ones on the long sides was also an influential feature, as was the positioning of the columns within the , corresponding with those on the outside, a feature not repeated until the construction of the temple at Bassae 150 years later.


=Temple of Artemis, Kerkyra (early 6th century BCE)

= The oldest Doric temple entirely built of stone is represented by the early 6th century BCE
Artemis Temple The Temple of Artemis or Artemision ( gr, Ἀρτεμίσιον; tr, Artemis Tapınağı), also known as the Temple of Diana, was a Greek temple dedicated to an ancient, local form of the goddess Artemis (identified with Diana, a Roman g ...
in Kerkyra (modern
Corfu Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...
). All parts of this building are bulky and heavy, its columns reach a height of barely five times their bottom diameter and were very closely spaced with an intercolumniation of a single column width. The individual members of its Doric orders all differ considerably from the later canon, although all essential Doric features are present. Its ground plan of 8 by 17 columns, probably pseudoperipteral, is unusual.


=Archaic Olympieion, Athens

= Among the Doric temples, the Peisistratid
Olympieion The Temple of Olympian Zeus ( grc-gre, Ναός του Ολυμπίου Διός, ), also known as the Olympieion or Columns of the Olympian Zeus, is a former colossal temple at the center of the Greek capital Athens. It was dedicated to "Olym ...
at
Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...
has a special position. Although this building was never completed, its architect apparently attempted to adapt the Ionic . Column drums built into the later foundations indicate that it was originally planned as a Doric temple. Nonetheless, its ground plan follows the Ionic examples of
Samos Samos (, also ; el, Σάμος ) is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the -wide Mycale Strait. It is also a sepa ...
so closely that it would be hard to reconcile such a solution with a Doric triglyph frieze. After the expulsion of
Hippias Hippias of Elis (; el, Ἱππίας ὁ Ἠλεῖος; late 5th century BC) was a Greek sophist, and a contemporary of Socrates. With an assurance characteristic of the later sophists, he claimed to be regarded as an authority on all subjects ...
in 510 BCE, work on this structure was stopped: Democratic Athens had no desire to continue a monument of
tyrannical A tyrant (), in the modern English usage of the word, is an absolute ruler who is unrestrained by law, or one who has usurped a legitimate ruler's sovereignty. Often portrayed as cruel, tyrants may defend their positions by resorting to r ...
self-aggrandisation.


Classical period: canonisation

Apart from this exception and some examples in the more experimental poleis of Greater Greece, the Classical Doric temple type remained the . Its perfection was a priority of artistic endeavour throughout the Classical period.


=Temple of Zeus, Olympia (460 BCE)

= The canonical solution was found fairly soon by the architect Libon of Elis, who erected the Temple of Zeus at Olympia around 460 BCE. With its 6 × 13 columns or 5 × 12 intercolumniations, this temple was designed entirely rationally. Its column bays (axis to axis) measured , a triglyph + metope , a plus the adjacent space () , the tile width of the marble roof was . Its columns are powerful, with only a slight ; the echinus of the capitals is already nearly linear at 45°. All of the superstructure is affected by curvature. The measures exactly 3 × 9 column distances (axis to axis), its external wall faces are aligned with the axes of the adjacent columns.


=Other canonical Classical temples

= The Classical proportion, 6 × 13 columns, is taken up by numerous temples, e.g. the Temple of
Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
on
Delos The island of Delos (; el, Δήλος ; Attic: , Doric: ), near Mykonos, near the centre of the Cyclades archipelago, is one of the most important mythological, historical, and archaeological sites in Greece. The excavations in the island ar ...
(), the Temple of Hephaistos at
Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...
and the temple of Poseidon on
Cape Sounion Cape Sounion (Modern Greek: Aκρωτήριο Σούνιο ''Akrotírio Soúnio'' ; grc, Ἄκρον Σούνιον ''Άkron Soúnion'', latinized ''Sunium''; Venetian: ''Capo Colonne'' "Cape of Columns") is the promontory at the southernmost ...
. A slight variation, with 6 × 12 columns or 5 × 11 intercolumniations occurs as frequently.


=The Parthenon (450 BCE)

= The
Parthenon The Parthenon (; grc, Παρθενών, , ; ell, Παρθενώνας, , ) is a former temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, that was dedicated to the goddess Athena during the fifth century BC. Its decorative sculptures are considere ...
maintains the same proportion at a larger scale of 8 × 17 columns, but follows the same principles. In spite of the eight columns on its front, the temple is a pure , its external walls align with the axes of the second and seventh columns. In other regards, the Parthenon is distinguished as an exceptional example among the mass of Greek by many distinctive aesthetic solutions in detail. For example, the of and are shortened so as to form simple pillars. Instead of longer , there are ''prostyle'' colonnades inside the on the front and back, reflecting Ionic habits. The execution of the , with a western room containing four columns, is also exceptional. The Parthenon's Archaic predecessor already contained such a room. All measurements in the Parthenon are determined by the proportion 4:9. It determines column width to column distance, width to length of the stylobate, and of the without . The temple's width to height up to the is determined by the reverse proportion 9:4, the same proportion squared, 81:16, determines temple length to height. All of this mathematical rigour is relaxed and loosened by the optical refinements mentioned above, which affect the whole building, from layer to layer, and element to element. 92 sculpted metopes decorate its triglyph frieze:
centauromachy The Lapiths (; grc, Λαπίθαι) are a group of legendary people in Greek mythology, whose home was in Thessaly, in the valley of the Peneus and on the mountain Pelion. Mythology Origin The Lapiths were an Aeolian tribe who, like the Myr ...
,
amazonomachy In Greek mythology, Amazonomachy ( English translation: "Amazon battle"; plural, Amazonomachiai ( grc, Ἀμαζονομαχίαι) or Amazonomachies) was one of various mythical battles between the ancient Greeks and the Amazons, a nation of ...
and gigantomachy are its themes. The external walls of the are crowned with a figural frieze surrounding the entire and depicting the Panathenaic procession as well as the Assembly of the Gods. Large format figures decorate the pediments on the narrow sides. This conjunction of strict principles and elaborate refinements makes the
Parthenon The Parthenon (; grc, Παρθενών, , ; ell, Παρθενώνας, , ) is a former temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, that was dedicated to the goddess Athena during the fifth century BC. Its decorative sculptures are considere ...
the paradigmatic Classical temple. The Temple of Hephaistos at
Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...
, erected shortly after the Parthenon, uses the same aesthetic and proportional principles, without adhering as closely to the 4:9 proportion.


Late Classical and Hellenistic: changing proportions

In the 4th century BCE, a few Doric temples were erected with 6 × 15 or 6 × 14 columns, probably referring to local Archaic predecessors, e.g. the Temple of Zeus in
Nemea Nemea (; grc, Νεμέα; grc-x-ionic, Νεμέη) is an ancient site in the northeastern part of the Peloponnese, in Greece. Formerly part of the territory of Cleonae in ancient Argolis, it is today situated in the regional unit of Corinth ...
and that of Athena in
Tegea Tegea (; el, Τεγέα) was a settlement in ancient Arcadia, and it is also a former municipality in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the Tripoli municipality, of which it is a municipal un ...
. Generally, Doric temples followed a tendency to become lighter in their superstructures. Columns became narrower, intercolumniations wider. This shows a growing adjustment to the proportion and weight of Ionic temples, mirrored by a progressive tendency among Ionic temples to become somewhat heavier. In the light of this mutual influence it is not surprising that in the late 4th century BCE temple of
Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label= genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label= genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek relig ...
at
Nemea Nemea (; grc, Νεμέα; grc-x-ionic, Νεμέη) is an ancient site in the northeastern part of the Peloponnese, in Greece. Formerly part of the territory of Cleonae in ancient Argolis, it is today situated in the regional unit of Corinth ...
, the front is emphasised by a two intercolumniations deep, while the is suppressed. Frontality is a key feature of Ionic temples. The emphasis on the already occurred in the slightly older temple of
Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of v ...
at
Tegea Tegea (; el, Τεγέα) was a settlement in ancient Arcadia, and it is also a former municipality in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the Tripoli municipality, of which it is a municipal un ...
, but there it was repeated in the . Both temples continued the tendency towards more richly equipped interiors, in both cases with engaged or full columns of the Corinthian order. The increasing reduction of the number of columns along the long sides, clearly visible on Ionic temples, is mirrored in Doric constructions. A small temple at Kournó has a of merely 6 × 7 columns, a stylobate of only 8 × 10 m and corners executed as pilasters towards the front. The of monumental Doric temples is merely hinted at here; the function as a simple canopy for the shrine of the cult statue is clear.


Doric temples in Magna Graecia

Sicily and Southern Italy hardly participated in these developments. Here, most temple construction took place during the 6th and 5th centuries BCE. Later, the Western Greeks showed a pronounced tendency to develop unusual architectural solutions, more or less unthinkable in the mother of their colonies. For example, there are two examples of temples with uneven column numbers at the front, Temple of Hera I at
Paestum Paestum ( , , ) was a major ancient Greek city on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea in Magna Graecia (southern Italy). The ruins of Paestum are famous for their three ancient Greek temples in the Doric order, dating from about 550 to 450 BC, whi ...
and Temple of Apollo A at
Metapontum Metapontum or Metapontium ( grc, Μεταπόντιον, Metapontion) was an important city of Magna Graecia, situated on the gulf of Tarentum, between the river Bradanus and the Casuentus (modern Basento). It was distant about 20 km from ...
. Both temples had fronts of nine columns. The technical possibilities of the western Greeks, which had progressed beyond those in the motherland, permitted many deviations. For example, innovations regarding the construction of the entablature developed in the west allowed the spanning of much wider spaces than before, leading to some very deep and broad . The often had a depth of two column distances, e.g. at Temple of Hera I, Paestum, and temples C, F and G at Selinus, classifying them as . The only played a subsidiary role, but did occur sometimes, e.g. at the temple of
Poseidon Poseidon (; grc-gre, Ποσειδῶν) was one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and myth, god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was venerated as ...
in
Paestum Paestum ( , , ) was a major ancient Greek city on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea in Magna Graecia (southern Italy). The ruins of Paestum are famous for their three ancient Greek temples in the Doric order, dating from about 550 to 450 BC, whi ...
. Much more frequently, the temples included a separate room at the back end of the , entrance to which was usually forbidden, the '' adyton''. In some cases, the was a free-standing structure within the , e.g. temple G in Selinus. If possible, columns inside the were avoided, allowing for open roof constructions of up to 13 m width. The largest such structure was the
Olympieion The Temple of Olympian Zeus ( grc-gre, Ναός του Ολυμπίου Διός, ), also known as the Olympieion or Columns of the Olympian Zeus, is a former colossal temple at the center of the Greek capital Athens. It was dedicated to "Olym ...
of Akragas, an 8 × 17 columns , but in many regards an absolutely "un-Greek" structure, equipped with details such as engaged, figural pillars (
Telamon In Greek mythology, Telamon (; Ancient Greek: Τελαμών, ''Telamōn'' means "broad strap") was the son of King Aeacus of Aegina, and Endeïs, a mountain nymph. The elder brother of Peleus, Telamon sailed alongside Jason as one of his Argo ...
s), and a partially closed off by walls. With external dimensions of 56 × 113 m, it was the largest Doric building ever to be completed. If the colonies showed remarkable independence and will to experiment in basic terms, they did so even more in terms of detail. For example, the lower surfaces of Doric could be decorated with
coffer A coffer (or coffering) in architecture is a series of sunken panels in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling, soffit or vault. A series of these sunken panels was often used as decoration for a ceiling or a vault, also ...
s instead of '' mutuli''. Although a strong tendency to emphasize the front, e.g. through the addition of ramps or stairs with up to eight steps (at Temple C in Selinus), or a depth of 3.5 column distances (temple of
Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
at
Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy * Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' * Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York ** North Syracuse, New York * Syracuse, Indiana *Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, M ...
) had become a key principle of design, this was relativised by the broadening of column distances on the long sides, e.g. Temple of Hera I at
Paestum Paestum ( , , ) was a major ancient Greek city on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea in Magna Graecia (southern Italy). The ruins of Paestum are famous for their three ancient Greek temples in the Doric order, dating from about 550 to 450 BC, whi ...
. Only in the colonies could the Doric corner conflict be ignored. If South Italian architects tried to solve it, they used a variety of solutions: broadening of the corner metopes or triglyphs, variation of column distance or metopes. In some cases, different solutions were used on the broad and narrow sides of the same building. File:Paestum BW 2013-05-17 15-01-57.jpg, Temple of Hera II at
Paestum Paestum ( , , ) was a major ancient Greek city on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea in Magna Graecia (southern Italy). The ruins of Paestum are famous for their three ancient Greek temples in the Doric order, dating from about 550 to 450 BC, whi ...
. File:Selinunte-TempleG-Plan-bjs.png, Temple G, Selinus, with well-defined ''adyton''. File:Agrigent Model Zeus-Tempel.jpg, Model of the Olympieion at Akragas.


Ionic temples


Origins

For the early period, before the 6th century BCE, the term Ionic temple can, at best, designate a temple in the Ionian areas of settlement. No fragments of architecture belonging to the
Ionic order The Ionic order is one of the three canonic orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric and the Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan (a plainer Doric), and the rich variant of Corinthian called the composite ...
have been found from this time. Nonetheless, some early temples in the area already indicate the rational system that was to characterise the Ionic system later on, e.g. the Heraion II on
Samos Samos (, also ; el, Σάμος ) is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the -wide Mycale Strait. It is also a sepa ...
. Thus, even at an early point, the axes of the walls aligned with the column axes, whereas in Doric architecture, the external wall faces do so. The early temples also show no concern for the typical Doric feature of visibility from all sides, they regularly lack an ; the only became widespread in the area in the 4th century BCE. In contrast, from an early point, Ionic temples stress the front by using double porticos. Elongated became a determining element. At the same time, the Ionic temples were characterised by their tendency to use varied and richly decorated surfaces, as well as the widespread use of light-shade contrasts.


Monumental Ionic temples


=The Heraion of Samos

= As soon as the Ionic order becomes recognisable in temple architecture, it is increased to monumental sizes. The temple in the
Heraion of Samos The Heraion of Samos was a large sanctuary to the goddess Hera, on the island of Samos, Greece, 6 km southwest of the ancient city of Samos (modern Pythagoreion). It was located in the low, marshy basin of the Imbrasos river, near where it e ...
, erected by Rhoikos around 560 BCE, is the first known , with outside dimensions of 52 × 105 m. A double portico of 8 × 21 columns enclosed the , the back even had ten columns. The front used differing column distances, with a wider central opening. In proportion to the bottom diameter, the columns reached three times the height of a Doric counterpart. 40 flutings enriched the complex surface structure of the column shafts. Samian column bases were decorated with a sequence of horizontal flutings, but in spite of this playfulness they weighed 1,500 kg a piece. The capitals of this structure were probably still entirely of wood, as was the entablature. Ionic volute capitals survive from the outer of the later rebuilding by
Polycrates Polycrates (; grc-gre, Πολυκράτης), son of Aeaces, was the tyrant of Samos from the 540s BC to 522 BC. He had a reputation as both a fierce warrior and an enlightened tyrant. Sources The main source for Polycrates' life and activ ...
. The columns of the inner had leaf decoration and no volutes.


=Cycladic Ionic

= In the
Cyclades The Cyclades (; el, Κυκλάδες, ) are an island group in the Aegean Sea, southeast of mainland Greece and a former administrative prefecture of Greece. They are one of the island groups which constitute the Aegean archipelago. The name ...
, there were early temples entirely built of marble. Volute capitals have not been found associated with these, but their marble entablatures belonged to the Ionic order.


=The Artemision of Ephesos

= Roughly beginning with the erection of the older Artemision of Ephesos around 550 BCE the quantity of archaeological remains of Ionic temples increases. The Artemision was planned as a , its architect
Theodoros Theodoros or Theodorus ( el, Θεόδωρος) is a masculine given name, from which Theodore is derived. The feminine version is Theodora. It may refer to: Ancient world :''Ordered chronologically'' * Theodorus of Samos, 6th-century BC Greek ...
had been one of the builders of the Samian Heraion. With a substructure of 55 × 115 m, the Artemision outscaled all precedents. Its was executed as unroofed internal
peristyle In ancient Greek and Roman architecture, a peristyle (; from Greek ) is a continuous porch formed by a row of columns surrounding the perimeter of a building or a courtyard. Tetrastoön ( grc, τετράστῳον or τετράστοον, lit=f ...
courtyard, the so-called . The building was entirely of marble. The temple was considered as one of the
seven wonders of the ancient world The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, also known as the Seven Wonders of the World or simply the Seven Wonders, is a list of seven notable structures present during classical antiquity. The first known list of seven wonders dates back to the 2 ...
, which may be justified, considering the efforts involved in its construction. The columns stood on ephesian bases, 36 of them were decorated with life-sized friezes of human figures at the bottom of the shaft, the so-called . The columns had between 40 and 48 flutings, some of them cut to alternate between a wider and a narrower fluting. The oldest marble architraves of Greek architecture, found at the Artemision, also spanned the widest distances ever achieved in pure stone. The middle architrave block was 8.74 m long and weighed 24 metric tons; it had to be lifted to its final position, 20 m above ground, with a system of pulleys. Like its precedents, the temple used differentiated column widths in the front, and had a higher number of columns at the back. According to ancient sources,
Kroisos Croesus ( ; Lydian: ; Phrygian: ; grc, Κροισος, Kroisos; Latin: ; reigned: c. 585 – c. 546 BC) was the king of Lydia, who reigned from 585 BC until his defeat by the Persian king Cyrus the Great in 547 or 546 BC. Croesus was r ...
was one of the sponsors. An inscription referring to his sponsorship was indeed found on one of the columns. The temple was burnt down by Herostratos in 356 BCE and reerected soon thereafter. For the replacement, a ''
crepidoma Crepidoma is an architectural term for part of the structure of ancient Greek buildings. The crepidoma is the multilevel platform on which the superstructure of the building is erected. The crepidoma usually has three levels. Each level typi ...
'' of ten or more steps was erected. Older Ionic temples normally lacked a specific visible substructure. This emphasised basis had to be balanced out be a heightened entablature, producing not only a visual contrast to, but also a major weight upon the slender columns.


=Temple of Apollo at Didyma

= The temple of Apollo at
Didyma Didyma (; grc, Δίδυμα) was an ancient Greek sanctuary on the coast of Ionia in the domain of the famous city of Miletus. Apollo was the main deity of the sanctuary of Didyma, also called ''Didymaion''. But it was home to both of the te ...
near
Miletus Miletus (; gr, Μῑ́λητος, Mī́lētos; Hittite transcription ''Millawanda'' or ''Milawata'' ( exonyms); la, Mīlētus; tr, Milet) was an ancient Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia, near the mouth of the Maeander River in ...
, begun around 540 BCE, was another with open internal courtyard. The interior was structured with powerful pilasters, their rhythm reflecting that of the external . The columns, with 36 flutings, were executed as with figural decoration, like those at Ephesos. Construction ceased around 500 BCE, but was restarted in 331 BCE and finally completed in the 2nd century BCE. The enormous costs involved may have been one of the reasons for the long period of construction. The building was the first Ionic temple to follow the Attic tradition of uniform column distances, the frontal differentiation was not practised any more.


=Temple of Athena Polias, Priene

= Ionic were usually somewhat smaller and shorter in their dimensions than Doric ones. E.g., the temple of
Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label= genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label= genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek relig ...
at
Labraunda Labraunda ( grc, Λάβρανδα ''Labranda'' or Λάβραυνδα ''Labraunda'') is an ancient archaeological site five kilometers west of Ortaköy, Muğla Province, Turkey, in the mountains near the coast of Caria. In ancient times, it was h ...
had only 6 × 8 columns, the temple of
Aphrodite Aphrodite ( ; grc-gre, Ἀφροδίτη, Aphrodítē; , , ) is an ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, and procreation. She was syncretized with the Roman goddess . Aphrodite's major symbols incl ...
in
Samothrace Samothrace (also known as Samothraki, el, Σαμοθράκη, ) is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea. It is a municipality within the Evros regional unit of Thrace. The island is long and is in size and has a population of 2,859 (2011 ...
only 6 × 9. The temple of Athena Polias at Priene, already considered in antiquity as the classical example of an Ionic temple, has partially survived. It was the first monumental of Ionia, erected between 350 and 330 BCE by Pytheos. It is based on a grid (the exact dimensions of its plinths). The temple had 6 × 11 columns, i.e. a proportion of 5:10 or 1:2 intercolumnia. Walls and columns were aligned axially, according to Ionic tradition. The was of equal depth on all sides, eliminating the usual emphasis on the front, an , integrated into the back of the , is the first proper example in Ionic architecture. The evident rational-mathematical aspect to the design suits Ionic Greek culture, with its strong tradition of
natural philosophy Natural philosophy or philosophy of nature (from Latin ''philosophia naturalis'') is the philosophical study of physics, that is, nature and the physical universe. It was dominant before the development of modern science. From the ancien ...
. Pytheos was to be of major influence far beyond his lifetime. Hermogenes, who probably came from Priene, was a deserving successor and achieved the final flourish of Ionic architecture around 200 BCE.


=The Artemision of Magnesia

= One of the projects led by Hermogenes was the Artemision of Magnesia on the Maeander, one of the first . other early include the temple of Aphrodite at Messa on
Lesbos Lesbos or Lesvos ( el, Λέσβος, Lésvos ) is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It has an area of with approximately of coastline, making it the third largest island in Greece. It is separated from Asia Minor by the nar ...
, belonging to the age of Hermogenes or earlier, the temple of Apollo Sminthaios on Chryse and the temple of
Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
at
Alabanda Alabanda ( grc, Ἀλάβανδα) or Antiochia of the Chrysaorians was a city of ancient Caria, Anatolia, the site of which is near Doğanyurt, Çine, Aydın Province, Turkey. The city is located in the saddle between two heights. The area i ...
. The arrangement of the , omitting the interior row of columns while maintaining a with the width of two column distances, produces a massively broadened portico, comparable to the contemporaneous hall architecture. The grid of the temple of Magnesia was based on a square. The was surrounded by 8 × 15 columns or 7 × 14 intercolumniations, i.e. a 1:2 proportion. The consisted of a of four column depths, a four-column , and a two-column . Above the architrave of the , there was a figural frieze of 137 m length, depicting the
amazonomachy In Greek mythology, Amazonomachy ( English translation: "Amazon battle"; plural, Amazonomachiai ( grc, Ἀμαζονομαχίαι) or Amazonomachies) was one of various mythical battles between the ancient Greeks and the Amazons, a nation of ...
. Above it lay the
dentil A dentil (from Lat. ''dens'', a tooth) is a small block used as a repeating ornament in the bedmould of a cornice. Dentils are found in ancient Greek and Roman architecture, and also in later styles such as Neoclassical, Federal, Georgian R ...
, the Ionic and the .


=Attic Ionic

= Although Athens and Attica were also ethnically Ionian, the Ionic order was of minor importance in this area. The Temple of Nike Aptera on the Acropolis, a small amphiprostyle temple completed around 420 BCE, with Ionic columns on plinthless Attic bases, a triple-layered architrave and a figural frieze, but without the typical Ionic
dentil A dentil (from Lat. ''dens'', a tooth) is a small block used as a repeating ornament in the bedmould of a cornice. Dentils are found in ancient Greek and Roman architecture, and also in later styles such as Neoclassical, Federal, Georgian R ...
, is notable. The east and north halls of the Erechtheion, completed in 406 BCE, follow the same succession of elements.


=Epidauros

= An innovative Ionic temple was that of
Asklepios Asclepius (; grc-gre, Ἀσκληπιός ''Asklēpiós'' ; la, Aesculapius) is a hero and god of medicine in ancient Religion in ancient Greece, Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology. He is the son of Apollo and Coronis (lover of ...
in
Epidaurus Epidaurus ( gr, Ἐπίδαυρος) was a small city ('' polis'') in ancient Greece, on the Argolid Peninsula at the Saronic Gulf. Two modern towns bear the name Epidavros: '' Palaia Epidavros'' and '' Nea Epidavros''. Since 2010 they belong t ...
, one of the first of the type. This small ionic prostyle temple had engaged columns along the sides and back, the was thus reduced to a mere hint of a full portico facade.


=Magna Graecia

= There is very little evidence of Ionic temples in
Magna Graecia Magna Graecia (, ; , , grc, Μεγάλη Ἑλλάς, ', it, Magna Grecia) was the name given by the Romans to the coastal areas of Southern Italy in the present-day Italian regions of Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Campania and Sicily; the ...
. One of the few exceptions is the early Classical Temple D, an 8 × 20-column , at
Metapontum Metapontum or Metapontium ( grc, Μεταπόντιον, Metapontion) was an important city of Magna Graecia, situated on the gulf of Tarentum, between the river Bradanus and the Casuentus (modern Basento). It was distant about 20 km from ...
. Its architect combined the dentils, typical of Asia Minor, with an Attic frieze, thus proving that the colonies were quite capable of partaking in the developments of the motherland. A small Ionic Hellenistic prostyle temple was found on the Poggetto San Nicola at
Agrigento Agrigento (; scn, Girgenti or ; grc, Ἀκράγας, translit=Akrágas; la, Agrigentum or ; ar, كركنت, Kirkant, or ''Jirjant'') is a city on the southern coast of Sicily, Italy and capital of the province of Agrigento. It was one o ...
.


=Hellenistic India

= Ruins of a provincial Ionic temple with a design very similar to those in the main
Greek world In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in 3 ...
survives at Jandial in modern
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
. The temple is considered semi-classical, with a plan essentially that of a Greek temple, with a , and an at the back. Two Ionic columns at the front are framed by two ''anta'' walls as in a Greek
distyle in antis In classical architecture, distyle in antis denotes a temple with the side walls extending to the front of the porch and terminating with two antae, the pediment being supported by two pilasters or sometimes caryatids. This is the earliest type o ...
layout. It seems that the temple had an outside wall with windows or doorways, in a layout similar to that of a Greek encircling row of columns ( peripteral design). It has been called "the most Hellenic structure yet found on Indian soil".


Corinthian temples


Beginnings

The youngest of the three Classical Greek orders, the
Corinthian order The Corinthian order ( Greek: Κορινθιακός ρυθμός, Latin: ''Ordo Corinthius'') is the last developed of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order ...
came to be used for the external design of Greek temples quite late. After it had proved its adequacy, e.g. on a
mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be cons ...
of at modern-day Belevi (near Ephesos), it appears to have found increasing popularity in the last half of the 3rd century BCE. Early examples probably include the
Serapeum of Alexandria The Serapeum of Alexandria in the Ptolemaic Kingdom was an ancient Greek temple built by Ptolemy III Euergetes (reigned 246–222 BC) and dedicated to Serapis, who was made the protector of Alexandria. There are also signs of Harpocrates ...
and a temple at Hermopolis Magna, both erected by Ptolemaios III. A small temple of Athena Limnastis at
Messene Messene (Greek: Μεσσήνη 𐀕𐀼𐀙 ''Messini''), officially Ancient Messene, is a local community within the regional unit (''perifereiaki enotita'') of Messenia in the region (''perifereia'') of Peloponnese. It is best known for the ...
, definitely Corinthian, is only attested through drawings by early travellers and very scarce fragments. It probably dates to the late 3rd century BCE.


Examples


=Hellenistic Temple of Olympian Zeus, Athens

= The first dateable and well-preserved presence of the Corinthian temple is the Hellenistic rebuilding of the Olympieion of Athens, planned and started between 175 and 146 BCE. This mighty with its 110 × 44 m substructure and 8 × 20 columns was to be one of the largest Corinthian temples ever. Donated by
Antiochus IV Antiochus IV Epiphanes (; grc, Ἀντίοχος ὁ Ἐπιφανής, ''Antíochos ho Epiphanḗs'', "God Manifest"; c. 215 BC – November/December 164 BC) was a Greek Hellenistic king who ruled the Seleucid Empire from 175 BC until his deat ...
Epiphanes, it combined all elements of the Asian/Ionic order with the Corinthian capital. Its Asian elements and its conception as a made the temple an exception in Athens.


=Olba

= Around the middle of the 2nd century BCE, a 6 × 12-column Corinthian was built in Olba-Diokaisarea in Rugged Cilicia. Its columns, mostly still upright, stand on Attic bases without plinths, exceptional for the period. The 24 flutings of the columns are only indicated by facets in the lower third. Each of the Corinthian capitals is made of three separate parts, an exceptional form. The entablature of the temple was probably in the Doric order, as is suggested by fragments of scattered among the ruins. All of these details suggest an Alexandrian workshop, since
Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...
showed the greatest tendency to combine Doric entablatures with Corinthian capitals and to do without the plinth under Attic bases.


=Temple of Hekate at Lagina

= A further plan option is shown by the temple of Hekate at Lagina, a small of 8 × 11 columns. Its architectural members are entirely in keeping with the Asian/Ionic canon. Its distinctive feature, a rich figural frieze, makes this building, erected around 100 BCE, an architectural gem. Further late Greek temples in the Corinthian order are known e.g. at
Mylasa Milas ( grc, Μύλασα, Mylasa) is an ancient city and the seat of the district of the same name in Muğla Province in southwestern Turkey. The city commands a region with an active economy and very rich in history and ancient remains, the ter ...
and, on the middle gymnasium terrace at
Pergamon Pergamon or Pergamum ( or ; grc-gre, Πέργαμον), also referred to by its modern Greek form Pergamos (), was a rich and powerful ancient Greek city in Mysia. It is located from the modern coastline of the Aegean Sea on a promontory on th ...
.


Distinctive uses of Corinthian temples, influence

The few Greek temples in the Corinthian order are almost always exceptional in form or ground plan and are initially usually an expression of royal patronage. The Corinthian order permitted a considerable increase of the material and technical effort invested in a building, which made its use attractive for the purposes of royals' self-aggrandisement. The demise of the Hellenistic monarchies and the increasing power of Rome and her allies placed mercantile elites and sanctuary administrations in the positions of building sponsors. The construction of Corinthian temples became a typical expression of self-confidence and independence.See Ralf Schenk: ''Der korinthische Tempel bis zum Ende des Prinzipats des Augustus''. Internationale Archäologie 45, 1997, pp. 41–47. As an element of
Roman architecture Ancient Roman architecture adopted the external language of classical Greek architecture for the purposes of the ancient Romans, but was different from Greek buildings, becoming a new architectural style. The two styles are often considered on ...
, the Corinthian temple came to be widely distributed in all of the Graeco-Roman world, especially in Asia Minor, until the late Imperial period. File:Maison Carree in Nimes (16).jpg, The
Maison Carrée Maison (French for "house") may refer to: People * Edna Maison (1892–1946), American silent-film actress * Jérémy Maison (born 1993), French cyclist * Leonard Maison, New York state senator 1834–1837 * Nicolas Joseph Maison (1771–1840), Ma ...
at
Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; oc, Nimes ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the prefecture of the Gard department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. Located between the Mediterranean Sea and Cévennes, the commune of Nîmes has an estimated population of ...
(
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
), from 16 BCE, a typical
Roman temple Ancient Roman temples were among the most important buildings in Roman culture, and some of the richest buildings in Roman architecture, though only a few survive in any sort of complete state. Today they remain "the most obvious symbol of ...
, is a Corinthian hexaystyle ''pseudoperipteros''. File:Temple between hill symbols and elephant coin of the Pandyas Sri Lanka 1st century CE.jpg, Pandyan Kingdom coin depicting a temple between hill symbols and elephant, Pandyas,
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
, 1st century CE.


Surviving remains

Though extremely solidly built, apart from the roof, relatively few Greek temples have left very significant remains; these are often those which were converted to other uses such as churches or mosques. There are many where the platforms are reasonably complete, and some round drum elements of the columns, which were harder for later builders to re-use. The somewhat controversial practice of
anastylosis Anastylosis (from the Ancient Greek: ; , = "again", and = "to erect stela or building) is an archaeological term for a reconstruction technique whereby a ruined building or monument is restored using the original architectural elements to ...
, or re-erecting fallen materials, has sometimes been used. The rectangular wall blocks have usually been carried off for re-use, and some buildings have been destroyed or weakened merely to get the bronze pins linking blocks. Marble sculpture has often been removed to make lime for mortar, and any that has survived has usually been removed to a museum, not always a local one. The most complete remains are concentrated in Athens and southern Italy; several are described in more detail above, under their orders. Athens has the Parthenon and the even better preserved Doric Temple of Hephaestus, both once churches, as well two small temples on the Acropolis and a corner of the large Corinthian Temple of Olympian Zeus. The small temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae survived in a rural location with most of its columns and main architrave blocks in place, amid a jumble of fallen stone. From this British antiquaries extracted the Bassae Frieze in 1812, which was soon in the
British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
. In Italy,
Paestum Paestum ( , , ) was a major ancient Greek city on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea in Magna Graecia (southern Italy). The ruins of Paestum are famous for their three ancient Greek temples in the Doric order, dating from about 550 to 450 BC, whi ...
, some way south of Naples near what was once the northern limit of
Magna Graecia Magna Graecia (, ; , , grc, Μεγάλη Ἑλλάς, ', it, Magna Grecia) was the name given by the Romans to the coastal areas of Southern Italy in the present-day Italian regions of Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Campania and Sicily; the ...
(Greek Italy), has three early Doric temples in a row, amid the mostly Roman ruins of the city. In
Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...
the Valle dei Templi near
Agrigento Agrigento (; scn, Girgenti or ; grc, Ἀκράγας, translit=Akrágas; la, Agrigentum or ; ar, كركنت, Kirkant, or ''Jirjant'') is a city on the southern coast of Sicily, Italy and capital of the province of Agrigento. It was one o ...
has an even larger group, with the main structure of the Temple of Concordia especially well-preserved. Along the coast Selinunte was destroyed about 250 BCE by the
Carthaginians The Punic people, or western Phoenicians, were a Semitic people in the Western Mediterranean who migrated from Tyre, Phoenicia to North Africa during the Early Iron Age. In modern scholarship, the term ''Punic'' – the Latin equivalent of the ...
and has the tumbled ruins of five temples, of which one has been rebuilt from the original material. Not far away, Segesta has a single Doric temple whose main structure is largely intact.


See also

*
Ancient Greek religion Religious practices in ancient Greece encompassed a collection of beliefs, rituals, and mythology, in the form of both popular public religion and cult practices. The application of the modern concept of "religion" to ancient cultures has bee ...
*
Art in ancient Greece Ancient Greek art stands out among that of other ancient cultures for its development of naturalistic but idealized depictions of the human body, in which largely nude male figures were generally the focus of innovation. The rate of stylistic d ...
*
Glossary of architecture This page is a glossary of architecture. A B C The Caryatid Porch of the Erech ...
*
Greek culture The culture of Greece has evolved over thousands of years, beginning in Minoan and later in Mycenaean Greece, continuing most notably into Classical Greece, while influencing the Roman Empire and its successor the Byzantine Empire. Other cul ...
*
Greek Revival architecture The Greek Revival was an architectural style, architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United Sta ...
* Ancient Greek technology *
List of ancient architectural records This is the list of ancient architectural records consists of record-making architectural achievements of the Greco-Roman world from c. 800 BC to 600 AD. Bridges *The highest bridge over the water or ground was the single-arched ...
* List of Ancient Greek temples * List of Greco-Roman roofs * List of Greek mythological figures *
Roman temple Ancient Roman temples were among the most important buildings in Roman culture, and some of the richest buildings in Roman architecture, though only a few survive in any sort of complete state. Today they remain "the most obvious symbol of ...
*
Vitruvius Vitruvius (; c. 80–70 BC – after c. 15 BC) was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work entitled '' De architectura''. He originated the idea that all buildings should have three attribut ...


References


Bibliography

;English *Jenkins, Ian. ''Greek Architecture and Its Sculpture''. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2006. *Martin, Roland. ''Greek Architecture''. New York: Electa/Rizzoli, 1988. *Miles, Margaret Melanie. ''A Companion to Greek Architecture''. Malden, MA: John Wiley & Sons, 2016. *Mikalson, Jon. ''Ancient Greek Religion''. Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. *Pollio, Marcus Vitruvius. “Marcus Vitruvius Pollio: De Architectura, Book IV.” LacusCurtius • Vitruvius on Architecture - Book IV. Accessed November 27, 2022. https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Vitruvius/4*.html. *Scully, Vincent Joseph. ''The Earth, the Temple, and the Gods: Greek Sacred Architecture''. Rev. ed. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1979. *Tzonis, Alexander, and Phoivē Giannisē. ''Classical Greek Architecture: The Construction of the Modern''. English-language ed. Paris: Flammarion, 2004. *Yeroulanou, Marina. "Architecture in City and Sanctuary". In ''A Companion to Greek Art'', edited by Tyler Jo Smith and Dimitris Plantzos, 132–52. Vol. 1. Somerset: Wiley, 2012. ; Foreign language * Bietak, Manfred (ed.): ''Archaische Griechische Tempel und Altägypten''. Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien 2001, * Fuchs, Werner: ''Die Skulptur der Griechen''. Hirmer, München 1983 (3. edn.), * Gruben, Gottfried: ''Die Tempel der Griechen''. Hirmer, München 2001 (5. edn.), * Knell, Heiner: ''Architektur der Griechen: Grundzüge''. Wiss. Buchges., Darmstadt 1988, * Lauter, Hans: ''Die Architektur des Hellenismus''. Wiss. Buchges., Darmstadt 1986, * Mertens, Dieter: ''Der alte Heratempel in Paestum und die archaische Baukunst in Unteritalien''. 1993. * Müller-Wiener, Wolfgang: ''Griechisches Bauwesen in der Antike''. C. H. Beck, München 1988, * Schenk, Ralf: ''Der korinthische Tempel bis zum Ende des Prinzipats des Augustus''. Internationale Archäologie Vol. 45, 1997,


External links


Gallery with images of Greek Temples
(University of Chicago)

(The Met) {{DEFAULTSORT:Greek Temple Ancient Greek buildings and structures Ancient Greek architecture