A palaestra ( or ; also (chiefly British) palestra; ) was any site of a

Greek wrestling Greek wrestling (), also known as Ancient Greek wrestling and Pále (πάλη), was the most popular organized sport in Ancient Greece. A point was scored when one player touched the ground with his back, hip or shoulder, or conceding defeat due ...

school in antiquity. Events requiring little space, such as

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

and wrestling, occurred there. ''Palaistrai'' functioned both independently and as a part of public gymnasia; a palaestra could exist without a gymnasium, but no gymnasium existed without a palaestra.

Etymology

Compare ancient Greek ''palaiein'' - "to wrestle" and ''palē'' - "wrestling". A palaestrophylax or palaistrophulax () was the guardian or the director of a Palaestra. The spelling is notable because it is usually spelled ''palestra'' in the United Kingdom, while in the United States, it is spelled ''palaestra''. This is a reverse of the usual rule for such words, where the ''ae''/''oe'' is used in British spelling but appears as ''e'' in American spelling.

Architecture

Greek

The

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

of the palaestra, although allowing for some variation, followed a distinct, standard plan. The palaestra essentially consisted of a rectangular court surrounded by colonnades with adjoining rooms. These rooms might house a variety of functions: bathing, ball playing, undressing and storage of clothes, seating for socializing, observation, or instruction, and storage of oil, dust or athletic equipment. Good examples of this building type come from two major Greek sites: Olympia and

Delphi Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), was an ancient sacred precinct and the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient Classical antiquity, classical world. The A ...

Vitruvius Vitruvius ( ; ; –70 BC – after ) was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work titled . As the only treatise on architecture to survive from antiquity, it has been regarded since the Renaissan ...

, through his text ''

De architectura (''On architecture'', published as ''Ten Books on Architecture'') is a treatise on architecture written by the Ancient Rome, Roman architect and military engineer Vitruvius, Marcus Vitruvius Pollio and dedicated to his patron, the emperor Caesa ...

'', is an important ancient source about this building type and provides a description of the Palaestra, "as constructed by the Greeks" in Book 5, chapter 11. Although the specifics of his descriptions do not always correspond to the architectural evidence, probably because he was a Roman author primarily interested in Italian architecture, his account provides insight into the general design and uses of this type of space. As Vitruvius describes it, the palaestra was square or rectangular in shape with colonnades along all four sides creating

portico 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 cu ...

es, with a total internal perimeter of two stadia (the length of the diaulos race, thus modern scholars sometimes refer to this whole structure as a diaulos). The portico on the northern side of the palaestra was of double depth to protect against the weather. Rounded halls with seats (''

exedra An exedra (: exedras or exedrae) is a semicircular architecture, architectural recess or platform, sometimes crowned by a semi-dome, and either set into a building's façade or free-standing. The original Greek word ''ἐξέδρα'' ('a seat ou ...

e'', ἐξέδραι) were built along the single depth sides of the palaestra for the use of philosophers, orators, and other scholars. The double-depth side was divided into three sections. In the centre was a larger exedra (''ephebeum'') for use by the ephebes (young adult men undergoing state-run education/military training). On the left there was a punching bag room (''coryceum'', κωρυκεῖον), a storeroom for sand/powder used to improve wrestlers' grip ('' conisterium'', κονιστἠριον), and a room for cold bathing (''loutrón'', λουτρόν). On the right there was an oil storeroom (''elaeothesium'', ἐλαιοθέσιον), a cold pool (''

frigidarium A ''frigidarium'' is one of the three main bath chambers of a Roman bath or ''thermae'', namely the cold room. It often contains a swimming pool. The succession of bathing activities in the ''thermae'' is not known with certainty, but it is tho ...

''), a furnace (''propnigeum'', προπνίγειον), a vaulted sauna (''sudatio''), a dry sweating-room ('' laconicum''), and a hot bath. To the north of the palaestra was a second courtyard, surrounded by porticoes on three sides, but open on the north. One of these porticoes was double-width and contained a covered wrestling arena ('' ξυστός'', Romanised as "xystus") for use during inclement weather. The space between the three porticoes contained walkways lined with trees (''xysta'' to the Romans, παραδρομίδες, "paradromides" to the Greeks).

Roman baths

During the

Roman Imperial period The Roman imperial period is the expansion of political and cultural influence of the Roman Empire. The period begins with the reign of Augustus (), and it is taken to end variously between the late 3rd and the late 4th century, with the beginnin ...

the palaestra was often combined with, or joined to, a full bathing complex. When the

Arabs Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of yea ...

and the Turks adopted the tradition of Roman baths as the

hammam A hammam (), also often called a Turkish bath by Westerners, is a type of steam bath or a place of public bathing associated with the Islamic world. It is a prominent feature in the culture of the Muslim world and was inherited from the model ...

, they did not continue the tradition of the attached palaestra.

References

External links