05 greek architectue 1 2

Historical Background
Location
in the area around the
peninsula that extends into
Greek mainland and on
Hellenistic period, Greek
far away places including
Africa
• Greek civilization occurred
Greek mainland, on a the
Mediterranean Sea
• It started in cities on the
islands in the Aegean Sea
• Towards the later or
civilization spread to other
Asia Minor and Northern

Location
• Most of the Greek mainland
was rocky and barren and
therefore bad for
agriculture
• Most Greeks therefore
lived along the coastline or on
islands where the soil was
good for farming
• The Aegean and
Mediterranean Seas
provided a means of
communication and trade
with other places

Period
• The period of ancient Greek history can
be divided into four as follows:
– 1100 B. C. – 750 B. C. Greek Dark Ages
– 750 B. C. – 500 B. C. Archaic Period
– 5000 B. C. – 323 B. C. Classical Period
– 323 B. C. – 147 B. C. Hellenistic Period
• The classical and archaic period are
sometimes collectively referred to as
Hellenic period

Period
• Greek Dark Ages (1100-750 BC)
– The Mycenaean people were Greek in Origin
– Greek civilization is therefore usually viewed as a
continuation of the Mycenaean civilization
– The start of the Greek civilization is therefore dated to
the end of the Mycenaean civilization in
1100BC
– Following the decline of Mycenae, the area around
the Greek mainland went into a period of decline that is
referred to as the Greek Dark ages

Period
– Greece became depopulated with groups of
people moving out of mainland Greece
towards the islands of the Aegean
– Mycenaean and Greek culture dwindled and
many cultural elements including writing, art and
architectural techniques were lost
– Trade with Asia Minor, the Middle East and Egypt,
which was at the root of Cretan prosperity stopped
entirely

Period
people from other less prosperous
regions
mountain regions
established their rule
called Dorian, as opposed to the Ionic Greek spoken
create a Hellenic culture, which is at the root of
– As Greek people migrated from the mainland, other
of the north migrated to the more fertile coastline
– They invade the Greek mainland villages and
– The northerners brought with them a Greek dialect by the
main settlers
– The two dialects and cultures later mixed together to
ancient Greek civilization

Period
– These two dialects became equated with
characteristic architectural forms that evolved in
them
– In the period following the invasion by the
Dorians, there was a shift in lifestyle that
produced a sedentary agricultural lifestyle and
society.
– Sedentary lifestyle allowed the Greeks to
rediscover urbanized culture that ultimately
led to evolution of classical Greek culture

Period
• Archaic Period (750 - 500 BC)
– The revival of Greece from the dark ages started
during the eight century BC
– The Greeks developed a new political form called
city states
– City states are cities which are ruled as
independent nations
– The archaic period saw the renewal interest in
overseas trading contact

Period
– Greek societies that were engaged in trade
became rich and by joining with other their
neighbors, sometimes forcefully, formed large
states
– The polis or city state emerged as the natural and
desirable political entity
– Early examples of these city states include
Athens, Corinth, Argos, and Sparta on the
mainland, and in the Eastern Aegean, Samos,
Chios, Smyrna, Ephesus and Miletus

Period
– The archaic period marked the rise of the aristocratic
families; families that are considered noble or of higher
status
– The archaic period was dominated politically by the
leading aristocratic families in each city state acting in
concert or squabbling amongst themselves for
supremacy
– At times individual aristocrats were able to take advantage
of popular dissatisfaction to seize authoritarian power
– Such rulers were called tyrants

Period
– Such tyrants stimulated the development of the
arts through their patronage
– The archaic period marked the beginnings of
Greek monumental stone sculpture and
architecture
– Around 546 BC, the rising Persian Empire
conquered some Greek city states
– The rising threat of the Persian Empire marked
the end of the Greek archaic period and of classical
Greek culture

Period
• Classical period (500 - 323 BC)
– The Classical period of ancient Greek history
occurred between 500 BC, and 323 BC.
– The period started with the Greek city states
coming into conflict with the rising Persian Empire
– The free Greek cities saw the threat that was
developing from the Persian Empire and prepared
for resistance
– A seaborne expedition by the Persians to
Athens was defeated at Marathon in 490 BC

Period
– Under the Persian King Xerxes, Persia attempted a
retribution in 479 BC and was defeated by an alliance of the
Greek states headed by Sparta
– The Greek alliance soon transformed into an Empire
under the leadership of Athens
– Pericles, the ruler of Athens between 444 and 429 BC
became a driving force for the development of temple
architecture
– Pericles used the defense revenue from the alliance for
temple building in Athens to thank the Gods

Period
heights during the classical period
government occurred under Pericles
Plato were founded
wars with Sparta which left it in ruins
the whole of Greece
power in the region
– Athens reached its greatest political and cultural
– The full development of the democratic system of
– The Parthenon on the Acropolis at Athens was built
– Philosophical schools such as those of Socrates and
– Between 431 and 404, Athens entered into a series of
– The fall of Athens gradually led to political chaos in
– The 4th century saw the rise of Macedonia as a

Period
– The Macedonian king, Philip rapidly extended
Macedonian power and wealth
– In 338 BC, he defeated a coalition of the major
Greek Cities including Athens and Thebes, and
created a federation of all Greeks with him as the
leader
– He proposed a crusade against the Persians but
was assassinated before undertaking it

Period
– His son Alexander undertook the crusade and
established himself as the ruler of the former
Persian empire
– Alexander undertook a lot of military
campaigns to extend the Greek empire and
founded many new cities such as Alexandria
in Egypt
– He died in 323 BC without a heir to inherit him
– The Death of Alexander marked the end of the
classical period of Greece civilization

Period
• Hellenistic period (323 - 147 BC)
– The Hellenistic period of ancient Greek
civilization started with the death of Alexander in
323 BC
– When Alexander died, he did not have a heir to
inherit him
– The Greek empire split into smaller states with
Alexander’s generals as their rulers

Period
• Hellenistic period (323 - 147 BC)
– The period saw the transplanting of Greek art,
civic life and culture to newly conquered areas
– The period also saw a marked increase in
interest in civic buildings
– The Hellenistic period ended in 147 BC, when the
Roman Empire conquered Greece and
incorporated the city states into it

Social Characteristics & Beliefs
said to be at the root of current western civilization
of their recognition as the root of western civilization
classical architecture
cultures, the Dorian and the Ionian to create a single
commercial society that ultimately gave birth to the
• Introduction
– Greek civilization is the first major civilization in Europe
– Greek civilization along with the Roman civilization are
– They two are referred to as “classical” cultures because
– Greek and Roman architecture are also referred to as
– Greek civilization started with the mingling of two Greek
Hellenic culture
– The two developed a sedentary agricultural and
concept of the city state

• Societal Organization- The city state
– The ancient Greeks lived in self governing city-states
called "polis."
– The city-states were small, independent communities
which were male-dominated and bound together by
race.
– The ancient Greek world was made up of hundreds of
these independent city states
– The polis started as a defensible area to which farmers of
an area could retreat in the event of an attack as in the
Mycenaean citadels
– Over time, towns grew around these defensible areas.

– Every polis was different from another, even though there
were similarities between them
– They were all bounded by common language and religious
beliefs
– They all made efforts to preserve their own unique
identity, and each city state believed that their state
was better than all the other states
– The city states often fought with one another.
– The city state of Athens on the Greek mainland was among
the most famous and powerful of the city states

– It was a major center for learning and the arts.
– When city-states were first formed, they were ruled by a
few wealthy men.
– However, they gradually moved towards democracy.
– Athens developed an early form of democracy
– How did they make laws? Only men who were born in
Athens were allowed to vote.
– They did this at public assemblies where upper class
citizens discussed and adopted laws that might benefit
Athens.

• Social Organization And Responsibility
– The scale of the polis was small.
– The philosophers Aristotle and Plato believed that the
polis should be of a small size, so that members know each
other personally
– The ideal size of a city state was fixed at 5040 males by
Plato
– Citizens in any polis were related by blood and so family
ties were very strong.
– Membership of the polis was hereditary and could not be
passed to persons outside the family

• Social Organization And Responsibility
– The society of the polis had a social hierarchy with
citizens at the top, followed by people who are not citizens
and finally slaves
– Public life was for male citizens while women were
secluded in the house
– Greek citizens did not have rights but duties
– All citizens were directly involved in politics, justice,
military service, religious ceremonies, intellectual
discussion, athletics and artistic pursuits.
– It was not acceptable for Greek citizens to refuse to
carryout their responsibilities

many different gods and goddesses
human beings in their passions, desires and appetite
and they controlled everything, from the waves in the
controlling one or two major aspects of life
gods, Hermes was the messenger of the gods, and
• Religious Belief
– The ancient Greeks were polytheistic, believing in
– The God were regarded as all powerful but similar to
– All aspect of life was under the protection of the gods,
ocean to the winner of a race.
– All the gods and goddesses had specific roles,
– Zeus was, for example, the supreme leader of the
Poseidon was the god of the sea

• Religious Belief
– The essential concept in religious practice was that of
contract, of obligation and the paying of obligation
– Humans call on the gods for protection and make
offerings to the gods to secure this
– Ancient Greeks believed that religion would make their
lives better while they were living.
– They also believed that the gods would take care of them
when they died.
– Religious belief was constantly changing and developing
as new cults were introduced from time to time

• Place of Worship
– Temples were the focus of Greek religious worships
– Temples were usually built in the cities of the Gods called
“Acropolis”
– Temples were built in every town and city for one or more
god or goddess
– The temples were considered as offerings to the gods
– Each community was therefore under pressure to make
them beautiful as possible

the gods
sanctuary where the statue of the god to whom it is
the gods
a parade to the temple where they made sacrifices
• Place of Worship
– The temples were also considered as the house of
– They were not designed for functional use
– They usually consist of a large open hall called
dedicated is kept
– The temples were the places for routine festivals to
– The festivals included plays, music, dancing, and then and
had a feast.
– Animals were usually sacrificed as a gift to the gods

• Architecture in service of religion
– Architecture in Greece Started in the Service of
Religions
– Temples were the abode of gods
– The Greeks regarded beauty as an attribute of the gods
and the conscious pursuit of beauty as a religious exercise.
– The most important task for architects was how to make
the temple beautiful
– The search for ways to express architectural beauty made
the Greek civilization among the first to have established
ideals of beauty

– The Greeks convinced themselves that the secrets of
beauty lie in proportions
– Man was viewed by the Greeks as having the most ideal
proportions and is the measure of all things
– Greek developed a system of building proportion that
reflected those of the human body
– With time, they refined their system of building proportion,
and developed the classical Greek orders which we will
soon explore

– The principal building material of the ancient
Greeks was stone
– Clay and timber were also used
– Timber was used mostly for roofing and its
scarcity coupled with limitations in its length
imposed restrictions on the width of buildings
– Temples were the main building type and it was
used as a decoration element by every city

– Greek society also made buildings other than temples
– These evolved in response to changes in need with time
– The most common buildings are amphitheaters, council
halls, public fountains and theatres, gymnasia, schools and
libraries, public baths and lavatories
– As these civic buildings emerge, treatment once reserved
for temple was extended to them even though on a less
grander scale than in the temples

– Greek construction was of a simple post and lintel or
trabeated construction
– Their ground plans were always very simple, usually
rectangular
– With a combination of simple ground plans and
trabeated construction, they were able to create
amazing buildings
– Buildings were constructed by skilled craftsmen who were
in demand and traveled from one state to the other for
construction work
– Designs were done on the ground by measuring out the
foundation

– Blocks of stone were ordered from the quarry
– Blocks were given initial preparation on the building site
– Blocks were large and retained in position by their own
weight; it was not necessary to fix them together in any way
– Roofs were of wood beams and rafters cut to square
shapes with tile roof
– Carvings and other decorative work were finished when
the building is completed

• Other Activities and Achievements
– Greek society contributed to the earliest development of
science and scientific inquiry
– Greeks attempted to explain the world through the laws of
nature.
– Greeks found out that the earth was round and A Greek
person is credited as being the first to measure the
circumference of the Earth
– The Greeks also made significant contributions to the arts,
particularly in sculpture and painting

• Other Activities and Achievements
– They wrote many stories and plays that continue to be
performed today.
– The ancient Greeks were huge sports fans and sports was
considered a part of religion
– Every four years, the Greeks held the Olympic Games in
the stadium at Olympia.
– The best athletes in Greece competed in different events
– Because the games were religious, anyone who was
caught cheating during the games was never allowed to
compete again

Architecture of the Civilization
•Greek Orders
•Temple Architecture
•Civic Architecture

GREEK TERMS:
1. ABACUS – the flat square on top of the capital; uppermost
member of the capital
2. APOTHECA– store room/ wine storage
3. CYCLOSTYLE – a circular projecting colonade
4. DENTILS – a small square block used in series in Ionic,
Corinthian, Composite and rarely in Doric cornices
5. ENTASIS – a slight convex curve used on Greek columns
(vertical and horizontal) to correct the optical illusion of
concavity which results to dropping and sagging.
6. FLUTING – a shallow concave grooves running vertically on the
shaft of a column, pilaster or other surface.

GREEK TERMS:
7. GLYPTOTHECA – a sculpture gallery
8. KONISTRA– orchestra of an ancient Greek theater
9. PLINTH – the lowest square member of the base of the treasury
10. THESAURUS – treasury house of the ancient Greece
11. VOLUTE – a spiral scroll in an Ionic capital; smaller version
appears on Corinthian and Composite capitals
References:
JPT Review Notes on the History of Architecture by Grace Ramos
History of Architecture by Sir Banister Fletcher

GREEK ARCHITECTURE
The architecture of the civilization that flourish in the Greek
peninsula, in Asia Minor, on the north coast of Africa and in the
western Mediterranean until the establishment of Roman dominion
in A.D. 146.
Characterized by
- a system based on rules of form and proportion
- temples of post-and-lintel construction were continually refined in
a quest for perfection
- their design influenced a wide range of secular, civic buildings
GREECE

Geographical Influence
Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea bounded Greece on two
sides.
Athens - center kingdom contains the upper city as “ Citadel.”
Geological Influence
Marble – chief building materials
Climatic Influence
Cold and Hot - favored an outdoor life.
Most of public ceremonies took place in an open air even in
religious rites.
GREECE

Religious Influence
Large statues represents Greek deities.
Some Greek Deities:
Zeus – supreme god, chief god
Poseidon – god of the sea
Athena – goddess of learning and wisdom
Apollo – god of law and reason, art, music and poetry
Aphrodite – goddess of commerce, love and beauty
GREECE

APOLLO
GREECE
ATHENA APHRODITE

Social and Political Influence
Chief diversion were music, dancing, wrestling, boxing, gymnastic
and bull fighting often with religious connection. Tyrannic,
aristocratic, and democratic were the forms of government.
GREECE

The Orders
Introduction
that makes up the principal
upright column or support with
entablature.
proportionally derived from the
elevation of a building
arrangement and proportion of
• Refer to the entire set of form
elevation of a temple.
• Composed of a base, an
its capital, and the horizontal
• All the parts of an order are size
of the base of the column.
• It determines all aspects of the
including its shape and the
its parts

The Orders
Introduction
• Greeks are credited with
originating the three orders
of the classical language of
architecture, Doric, Ionic
and Corinthian.
• Columns were understood
by the Greeks to be
anthropomorphic or
representative of the body
of a human
• The base suggests the feet,
the shaft the torso and the
capital the head.

The Orders
Introduction
• Each order had its own
conventions about the
design of the entablature
• The entablature is divided
into three sections; the
cornices, the frieze and the
architrave
• According the rules of
classical architecture, the
entablature should always
be divisible into these
three zones

The Orders
Doric Order
earliest to be developed
universal proportions for the
developed.
three elements; stylobate,
raised three steps on which
divided into the shaft and a
• The Doric order was the
• By the 6th century, a set of
Doric temple had been
• The Doric order is made up of
Column and entablature
• The stylobate is a podium
the temple sits
• The Doric column is further
square capital

The Orders
Doric Order
• It had a height of between 5
and 6 times its diameter.
• The shaft is tapered and made
to bulge slightly to provide
correction for optical illusion.
• The shaft is usually divided into
20 shallow flutes.
• The entablature is divided into
an architrave, a frieze and the
cornice.
• The Doric column represents
the proportions of a man’s
body, its strength and beauty.

Doric Order
Entasis
• A characteristic of the Doric order is
the use of entasis
• Entasis refers to the practice of
optical correction in Greek Doric
temples
• All buildings are arranged with a
slight curve to correct for optical
illusion when they are viewed
• This is done to counteract the
concave appearance produced by
straight edges in perspective
• The shaft of the column is built to be
slightly convex in shape for optical
correction
• Columns were also built with a slight
tilt

Doric Order
Entasis
• The drawing to the right explains
entasis
• Diagram one on top shows how the
ancient Greeks wanted the temple to
appear
• If the temple is built without correction,
then diagram two shows how it would
actually appear
• To ensure that it appears correctly as
desired in one, the Greeks introduced
the distortions shown in diagram three
• The application of entasis is an
expression of the desire for perfection
by Greek architects
• The best example of the application of
entasis is found in the Parthenon

The Orders
Ionic Order
• The Ionic order evolved and took
its name from Ionia in modern
day Turkey
• The ionic column including the
capital and base had a height of
9 to 10times its diameter
• It had 24 flutes, which is more
than that of the Doric column,
even though it is smaller in
diameter.
• The flutes were rounded at the
top and bottom.

The Orders
Ionic Order
• The Ionic order had a capital
developed from a pair of volute
about two-thirds the diameter of
the column in height
• Ornaments are used to decorate
the area between the capital and
the volute
• The Ionic column has a base
• One of the limitations of the Ionic
order is that it is designed to be
seen from the front only

The Orders
Ionic Order
• At the corner of
rectangular buildings, an
angular volute had to be
used.
• Entasis was not applied
to the ionic column
• The Ionic column is said
to represent the shape
of a women with its
delicacy and feminine
slenderness.

The Orders
Corinthian Order
its name from the city of
been developed in Athens in
proportions to the Ionic order
shaped like an inverted bel.
decorated with rows of
• The Corinthian order takes
Corinth in Greece
• It however appeared to have
the 5th century BC
• This order is similar in its
but has a different capital
• The core of the capital is
• The bell-like capital is
carved acanthus leaves

The Orders
Corinthian Order
Corinthian capital made it
Corinthian capital unlike the
seen from all directions
most beautifully ornate of the
figure of a maiden
used during the Greek period
ancient Roman period
• The rich decorative effect of the
attractive.
• Because of its symmetry, the
ionic capital is designed to be
• The Corinthian column, the
three orders represents the
• This order was not extensively
• It became popular during the

The Orders
Column Construction
• Do you wonder how the
columns of the Greek
orders were constructed?
• Each column was made
up of several drums of
marble
• They were held together
by a stone peg in the
center
• The stones were
assembled and put
together in their rough
form

The Orders
Column Construction
• The capital was also
carved out
• After they were put
together, the grooves
called flutes were cut
up and down the
shaft of the column and
all around it
• This gave the column
its slim and elegant
look

Temple Architecture
Introduction
building was the temple
building materials and the
architectural form.
worshippers, but as symbolic
rectangular in plan
plan has colonnades on all its
• The most important Greek
• The temple had the finest
richest decoration.
• It was also the most complex of
• It was designed not to hold
dwelling of the gods
• The temple is usually
• It is lifted on a podium, and
in external sides

Temple Architecture; Introduction
• The number of columns is always
even to allow the location of the
entrance in the center; temples
with odd number of columns are
uncommon
• Temples with 2 columns in front
are diastyle, 4-tetrastyle, 6-
hexastyle, 8-octastyle and 10-
decastyle
• Greek temples usually have twice
the number of columns in front
plus one by the side; A hexastyle
temple =six columns in front &
thirteen on side

enclosing a rectangular space called the naos or
temple is dedicated
framed by a pair of colonnades on the long side
statue of the god to whom the temple is
the entrance as a source of light
• Colonnades define a portico around the temple
• The temple building is made up of four walls
sanctuary
• This was the house of the god to whom the
• The interior rectangular space of the naos is
creating a central processional space
• At the head of the processional space is the
dedicated
• The temple interior was generally dark, with only

that the rising sun would light the
admired from the outside rather
originate from the Mycenaean
through several stages of
diagram
Greek temple had emerged
• The temple always faced east so
statues inside
• Temples were designed to be
than used
• The Greek temple is believed to
megaron
• From the megaron, it went
evolution as shown in the
• By 500 BC, the final form of the

Temple Architecture
Doric Temple
• The Doric temple is based
on the Doric order
• Both the Doric order and
temple went through a
simultaneous process of
evolution
• The Basilica at Paestum
550 BC is an example of
early Doric temple
• It was built during the
archaic period of Greek
civilization

Temple Architecture
Doric Temple
• The columns on the front
are 9, while on the sides
they are 18
• The Doric columns appear
heavy in comparison with
later temples
• The columns have a bulge,
pointing to the practice of
optical correction or
entasis by the time of its
construction
• The capitals are also huge,
heavy and very wide

Doric Temple
Temple of Aphaia at Aegina
Aegina 490 BC is a later
at Paestum
much less heavy than
thick
with less entasis or bulge
smaller
• The Temple of Aphaia at
temple than the Basilica
• Temple of Aphaia is
Paestum
• The entablature is less
• The columns are slimmer
• The capitals are also

Doric Temple
Temple of Aphaia at Aegina
• This temple is hexastyle but
has only 12 flanking columns-
early temple
• The interior columns are
divided into a row of two
columns separated by an
architrave
• This allowed the designers to
avoid using columns with a
large diameter
• The temple has triangular
pediment on n the Eastern and
Western sides decorated
with stories from Greek myths

Doric Temples
Temple of Hera Argiva at Paestum
(or Neptune) at Paestum
the Temple of Aphaia
preserved of all Greek
proportions than all the
high and about 4.3 times
• The Temple of Hera Argiva
460 BC was built later than
• It is one of the best temples
• It is more mature in its
others examined
• The columns are 8.8 meters
their lower diameter

Doric Temples
Temple of Hera Argiva at Paestum
• The temple is hexastyle but
with 24 columns on its flank
• It also has a double row of
columns in the interior, and
divided into two separated by
a stone architrave
• The most perfect of the Doric
temples is the Parthenon;
We will examine this temple
later

Ionic Temples
Introduction
the Ionic order
temples is the temple of
seven wonders of the ancient
Alexander the Great and was
and destroyed several times
not survived to the present
• Ionic temples were built using
• The most famous of the Ionic
Artemis at Ephesus
• It was considered one of the
World
• It was commissioned by
believed to have been built
• Unfortunately the temple has
time

Ionic Temples
Introduction
uncertainties about its
platform 2.7 meters high
front and they had an
at the base
temples is the Temple of
Acropolis at Athens
• There are also
arrangement in plan
• The temple stands on a
• It had 36 columns in its
additional relief sculpture
• The best surviving Ionic
Athena located at the

Corinthian Temples
Introduction
widely used during the Greek
inside the 5th century
Zeus in Athens was in the
in 131 A.D. well after the
very popular during the
• The Corinthian order was not
period
• Earliest known example is
Temple of Apollo at Bassae.
• The temple of Olympian
Corinthian order
• The column was constructed
Roman conquest of Greece
• The Corinthian order became
Roman period.

GREEK TEMPLE PLANS
GREECE
TEMPLE OF KING ZEUS

Form of Greek Temples
1. IN ANTIS – temples that have one to four columns between
antae at the front. Two is usual number.
2. AMPHI-ANTIS– temples that have one to four column between
antae at the front and rear. Two is usual number.
3. PROSTYLE – temples that have portico of column at the front.
4. AMPHI-PROSTYLE - temples that have portico of column at the
front and rear.

Form of Greek Temples
5. PERIPTERAL - temples that have single line of columns
surrounding the naos.
6. PSEUDO - PERIPTERAL – temples that have flanked of columns
attached to the naos wall
7. DIPTERAL – temples that have a double line of columns
surrounding the naos.
8. PSEUDO- DIPTERAL – temples are like the last but the inner
range of columns is omitted on the flank of the naos.

TEMPLE OF APOLLO
GREECE
TEMPLE OF ARTEMIS

GREEK ORNAMENTS
GREECE
GREEK MOULDINGS

Number of Columns on the Entrance Porch
1. HENOSTYLE – one column
2. DISTYLE – two columns
3. TRISTYLE – Three columns
4. TETRASTYLE – four columns
5. PENTASTYLE – five columns
6. HEXASTYLE – six columns
7. HEPTASTYLE – seven columns
8. OCTASTYLE – eight columns
9. ENNEASTYLE – nine columns
10. DECASTYLE – ten columns
11. DODECASTYLE – twelve columns

Civic Architecture
Introduction
• During the Hellenistic period Greeks became
very fascinated by civic buildings
• Treatments once reserved for temples and the
gods, were gradually extended to civic and
government buildings.
• The Agora or market place also became very
important in Greek cities.
• The theater and council chamber are examples
of civic buildings found in every Greek city

Civic Architecture
Theaters – Theater Epidarus
• The Greeks invented
the theater design that
is still used in movies
and auditoriums today
• Every important Greek
city had a theater
• Their theater was built
into a hilly landscape
• The theater had a bank
of seats steps created
from the landscape

Civic Architecture
Theaters – Theater Epidarus
• The theater had a bank of
seats steps created from
the landscape
• It would usually
commands a view to the
landscape
• The image shown is of
theater Epidaurus
• This was the largest
theater in ancient Greece
• It is still in use today

GREEK THEATER
GREECE
PALACE OF KING MINOS

Civic Architecture
Council Chamber – Bouleterion, Miletus
• The Bouleterion is where the
Boule or council of the city
state met
• It was a covered chamber
fitted with banks of seats like
a theater
• The example shown is from
the city of Miletus
• Similar buildings were found
in every Greek or Hellenistic
city

05 greek architectue 1 2

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