Classical Greek architecture developed post-and-lintel construction using wood and later stone. Early Greek temples used thick stone columns for support but later refined designs with taller, thinner columns. Temples followed set orders of decoration - Doric used thick columns, Ionic had scroll capitals, and Corinthian was most elegant with acanthus leaves. Temple plans evolved from simple shrines surrounded by columns to grander peristyle designs like the Parthenon with columns on all sides.

1. Classical Greek Architecture
Our word “architecture” comes from the Greek
architecton, which means “master carpenter.”
Early Greek architecture therefore employed
wood, not stone . These early structures, as well
as those of mud-brick, have not survived

2. Type of Construction
• Greek temples, like the
earlier Egyptian hypostyle
halls that their designs
are based upon, used
basic post-and-lintel
construction.
• This type of design –
which is based on right
angles and not curves – is
sometimes referred to as
trabeated architecture

3. Petrified Architecture
• By the 6th Century B.C,
stone had replaced wood
in the construction of
important temples.
• This transformation in
material from wood to
stone is referred to as
petrification.
• Designs still reflected
their origins in wood,
however.

4. Triglyph & Metope
• In fact, the three-barred
design of the triglyph,
which alternates with
the square, sculpted
metope, was designed
to mimic the grooves of
a wooden truss’s end

5. • In moving from wood to
stone, builders had to
adapt to the differing
properties of their
building materials.
• Stone has greater
compressive strength
(resistance to crushing)
than wood, but lacks
wood’s tensile strength
(tolerance of bending or
twisting)

6. Superstructures
• As a result, the Greeks
designed temples that could
have towering, widely-
spaced columns, but their
superstructures (the parts
of the building held up by
the columns) had to be
solid, unified masses
capable of being held
together by multiple
columns.
• This part must be solid.
• This part can have open
space

7. Columns
• Some experts feel that
the entasis, the outward
bulging in the middle of
Greek columns, may
originally have been an
imitation of the effect of
great compression on the
wooden posts of early
Greek temples.
• It also serves as a kind of
correction to an optical
illusion

8. Early temples had massive pillars, as architects worried about their ability to
support the weight above
•As a result, the earliest Greek
temples, like the Temple of Hera I at
Paestum, look low & wide.
•Later Greek temples, like the Temple
of Hera II at Paestum, appear taller &
more elegant.
Temples & Architecture

9. The Purpose of a Temple
• Unlike modern churches or
mosques, Greek temples’
interiors were not meant to
be meeting places for
worship.
• They were seen as earthly
homes for the community’s
god or goddess and a place
to keep offerings.
• A cult image was centrally
located within the naos, or
central interior space.
• In the mild climate of
Greece, ceremonies
honouring the temple’s god
or goddess generally took
place outdoors.
• Even the altar, upon which
animal sacrifices were
made, were outside the
temple structure, usually
proceeding the temple’s
façade or front.

10. The Anatomy of a Greek Temple
• There are four distinct
parts, or sections, that
are used to construct a
Greek temple.
• The lowest, horizontal
part of the temple is its
foundation, which looks
like steps.
• Most Greek temples had
three of these “steps”.
• Collectively, this section is
called the stylobate.

11. • The next section is the
vertical, Capital height-
building section that is
referred to as the column.
• Most columns had a base
(though not the Doric), at
the Shaft bottom, a shaft
in the middle, and a
capital at the top.
• The shaft may also be
smooth or fluted (a series
of grooves that run the
length of the Base shaft).
The Anatomy of a Greek Temple
Capital
Shaft
Base

12. • Above that, supported by
the column, is the
entablature.
• The entablature forms the
ceiling of the temple.
• If the column is like a
table leg, think of this as
the tabletop.
• It has three parts:
-Architrave: the beam
that rests on the capital.
-Frieze: A sculpted band.
-Cornice: A crowning
trim.
The Anatomy of a Greek Temple

13. • The angled top section that
forms the roof is called the
pediment.
• The angled beam at the top
is called the sloping cornice.
• The triangular part below is
called the tympanum, this is
often carved and decorated.
• Sometimes there are
carved features attached to
the roof; these are called
antefixes (2D on roof edges)
& acroterion (3D, on
corners).
The Anatomy of a Greek Temple
sloping
cornice
tympanum
antefixes
acroterion

14. The Greek Architectural orders
• Greek temples, like Egyptian
temples, tended to follow set
design patterns, which were
regarded as unchangeable,
ideal forms. Resultantly, design
variations are few in any given
period. Instead, the architects
choice of a particular Greek
order (decorative detail style),
expressed his creativity.
• In order of chronological
development, the three
classical Greek orders are:
- The Doric
-The Ionic
-The Corinthian

15. The Doric Order
• The Doric order’s columns are –
by comparison – the shortest and
widest, making these temples the
heaviest in appearance.
• Doric columns have thick shafts
(though it loses some of its mass
over time) that are constructed
with cylindrical blocks called
drums.
• The columns are baseless.
• Doric columns are the heaviest in
appearance
• The capital is plain.
• The shaft is thick – though it
loses some of its mass over time.
• The
Abacus
•The
Acanthus
Leaves
• The
Necking

16. Ionic Order
• Temples of the second Greek
order, the Ionic, appear more
elegant than the Doric.
• Besides basic proportion, the
Ionic is distinguishable from
the Doric order by its capital’s
distinctive scroll-like volutes.
• The columns that they
surmount also have shafts that
are thinner and taller than the
Doric
• These have greater elegance.
• The capital has distinctive
volutes.
• A base is apparent.
• The
Abacus
•The
Acanthus
Leaves
• The
Necking

17. Corinthian Order
• Of the three ancient Greek
temple orders, the Corinthian
order temples are by far the
tallest, most elegant, and most
majestic in their appearance.
• Their towering columns are
topped by foliated capitals
that are delineated by
acanthus leaf carvings.
• As with the Ionic order,
column bases are also
employed.
• This is also a tall, elegant form.
• The
Abacus
•The
Acanthus
Leaves
• The
Necking

18. Column Refinement Entasis
• Columns of all Greek orders
feature a swelling of the
shaft called entasis.
• Entasis counteracts the
eye’s tendency to reach
upward & forces it to look
both ways.
• Also, columns that are
straight appear thinner in
the middle when seen
against harsh light, making
them appear flimsy.
• The shaft’s middle bulge
visually counteracts this.

19. The Plans of Greek Temples
• The grandeur and evident
expense of a temple can
be determined by the
number of columns that
were used to construct it.
• Simple, early temples
were only blank walls
surrounding the naos.
• Later, an open area or
porch was added in front,
called a pronaos,
supported with either
two or four columns.

20. The Plans of Early Greek Temples
Temple In Antis
Simple naos, No
Pronos
Prostyle
A naos with a
pronaos in front
Amphiprostyle
A naos with a pronaos
at either end

21. Peristyle – Ex:Parthenon
• Later, grander temples,
like the Parthenon in
Athens, had both a front
and back pronaos (like an
amphiprostyle temple),
but added 4 colonnades
that surrounded the
entire structure called a
peristyle.
• A structure with this type
of floor plan is referred to
as a peripteral temple.

22. Double peristyle- Ex:The Temple of
Apollo
• Grandest of all, and
generally constructed
during the late Greek
period (what is known as
the Hellenistic Age), are
dipteral temples.
• These are essentially
peripteral temples, but
with a second set of
colonnades surrounding
them, creating a double
peristyle.

23. The Acropolis c. 450 BCE Athens,
Greece
• Perhaps the greatest
concentrated collection of
Greek architecture sits atop
the Acropolis, the sacred
sanctuary of Athena in Athens.
• This sanctuary’s collection of
buildings includes:
-The Propylaia: The gatehouse
-The Temple of Athena Nike:
The temple dedicated to
victory.
-The Parthenon: The temple
of Athena as patron goddess
of Athens.
-The Erechtheum: The temple
dedicated to the early kings of
Athens & the god Poseidon