Buildings and temples of ancient Greece. Architecture of Ancient Greece: briefly, most importantly

It is designated by three main periods: archaic, classical and Hellenistic.

Archaic period (VIII – VI centuries)

In those days, cities were built according to a single principle: in the center there was a fortified hill (acropolis), the top of which was decorated with a sanctuary and a temple erected for the patron god of the polis; Around the hill there were residential buildings, united into neighborhoods for different segments of the population, where, for example, artisans of the same profession lived compactly, in separate settlements. These settlements were called the lower city, the center of which was the agora - a meeting area where the townspeople jointly resolved their economic and political issues. Around the agora there were public buildings: bouleuteria (community council), prytaneia (for ceremonial receptions), leskhs (entertainment clubs), theaters, stadiums, fountains, and places for walking. And entire architectural complexes were allocated to palestras (gymnastic schools) and gymnasiums. But still, the temple on top of the city hill was the main and most beautiful building of the polis. This is evidenced by excavations of the temple of Apollo Terepios (Hermon), the temple of Hera (Olympia), the temple of Athena (Aegis Island), the “basilica” and the temple of Demeter (Paestum), etc. Inside the temples there are many sculptures and frescoes, painted mainly in blue and red colors. The main, load-bearing parts of the temples (architraves, columns) were not painted at all. Great importance was attached to the landscape surrounding the temple and sanctuary. The zigzag illuminated road leading to them from below was framed by statues and treasuries, and the temple itself appeared before the eyes of walking people unexpectedly, at the last turn. This created an impression of greatness and strength.

Classical period (5th century BC)

The most famous monument of the classical period of architecture is the temple complex - Acropolis, built in the 5th - 4th centuries, but destroyed as a result of the Persian War. The great architects Ictinus, Callicartes, and Mnesiclet were involved in the restoration of the Acropolis in the second half of the 5th century. The entire temple ensemble was built from sparkling white marble. The temple of the goddess Athena - the Parthenon - is the main one in the complex and the most majestic. It is considered the highest achievement of architecture of all time. The height of its columns is equal to the height of the columns of the temple of the supreme god Zeus in Olympia. But the heaviness of the temple of Zeus was replaced by grace and slender proportions. The Parthenon also housed the Athenian treasury. At the entrance to the Acropolis there was the Propylaea building, where there was an art gallery and a rich library. This building served as the gateway to the Acropolis. The restored Acropolis complex was supposed to amaze with its strict, calm forms, harmonious proportions, sparkling white marble columns, bright colors with which individual parts of the buildings were painted, and inspire the idea of ​​strength, greatness, the might of the state and pan-Hellenic unity. In addition to temples, in accordance with the landscape, buildings for secular purposes were also built: shopping and entertainment complexes. Stadiums were located in natural lowlands, theaters - on hillsides, so that the audience seats stepped down to the stage - the orchestra.

Hellenistic period (IV–I centuries)

The discovery of the Hellenistic period of architecture were temples surrounded by a double colonnade. Such was the temple of Didymaion (Miletus). Miletus, by the way, is still considered the best example of urban planning. The mentioned temple is surrounded by a double colonnade (210 columns). A renowned practitioner and theorist of architecture of this period was Hermogenes, the creator of a new architectural formula - a pseudo-diptera, or, more simply, a double colonnade with an inner row of columns half hidden in the walls. This idea was embodied in the construction of the Temple of Artemis Leucothryene (Magnesia). After the Greeks, pseudodipter was widely used in the architecture of the Romans. Another asset of the Hellenistic period was the construction of round buildings. We can judge this type of architecture from the few surviving monuments: Arsinoeion (Samothrace Island), several buildings in Eretria and Olympia. But history recognized the hundred-meter sea lighthouse (Foros Island) not far from Alexandria as the most grandiose. It was called one of the seven “wonders of the world,” but it has not survived to this day, like the rest of the “miracles,” except for the Egyptian pyramids.

It took several centuries before the Dorian tribes, who arrived from the north in the 12th century BC, by the 6th century BC. created a highly developed art. This was followed by three periods in the history of Greek art:

1) archaic, or ancient period - from approximately 600 to 480 BC, when the Greeks repelled the invasion of the Persians and, having freed their land from the threat of conquest, were again able to create freely and calmly;

2) classic, or heyday, from 480 to 323 BC. - the year of the death of Alexander the Great, who conquered vast areas, very different in their cultures; this diversity of cultures was one of the reasons for the decline of classical Greek art;

3) Hellenism, or late period; it ended in 30 BC, when the Romans conquered Greek-influenced Egypt.

Greek culture spread far beyond the borders of its homeland - to Asia Minor and Italy, to Sicily and other islands of the Mediterranean, to North Africa and other places where the Greeks founded their settlements. Greek cities were even located on the northern coast of the Black Sea.

The greatest achievement of Greek building art was the temples. The oldest ruins of temples date back to the archaic era, when yellowish limestone and white marble began to be used as building materials instead of wood. It is believed that the prototype for the temple was the ancient dwelling of the Greeks - a rectangular structure with two columns in front of the entrance. From this simple building, various types of temples, more complex in their layout, grew over time. Usually the temple stood on a stepped base. It consisted of a windowless room where a statue of the deity was located, the building was surrounded by one or two rows of columns. They supported the floor beams and the gable roof. In the dimly lit interior, only priests could visit the statue of the god, but the people saw the temple only from the outside. Obviously, therefore, the ancient Greeks paid main attention to the beauty and harmony of the external appearance of the temple.

The construction of the temple was subject to certain rules. The dimensions, proportions of parts and number of columns were precisely established.

Three styles dominated in Greek architecture: Doric, Ionic, Corinthian. The oldest of them was the Doric style, which developed already in the archaic era. He was courageous, simple and powerful. It got its name from the Doric tribes that created it. Today, the surviving parts of the temples are white: the paint that covered them has crumbled over time. Once upon a time, their friezes and cornices were painted red and blue.

The Ionic style originated in the Ionian region of Asia Minor. From here he already penetrated into the Greek regions proper. Compared to Doric, Ionic style columns are more elegant and slender. Each column has its own base - the base. The middle part of the capital resembles a pillow with corners twisted into a spiral, the so-called. in volutes.

In the Hellenistic era, when architecture began to strive for greater splendor, Corinthian capitals began to be used most often. They are richly decorated with plant motifs, among which images of acanthus leaves predominate.

It so happened that time was kind to the oldest Doric temples, mainly outside Greece. Several such temples have survived on the island of Sicily and in southern Italy. The most famous of them is the temple of the sea god Poseidon in Paestum, near Naples, which looks somewhat ponderous and squat. Of the early Doric temples in Greece itself, the most interesting is the temple of the supreme god Zeus, now standing in ruins, in Olympia, the sacred city of the Greeks, where the Olympic Games began.

The heyday of Greek architecture began in the 5th century BC. This classical era is inextricably linked with the name of the famous statesman Pericles. During his reign, grandiose construction work began in Athens, the largest cultural and artistic center of Greece. The main construction took place on the ancient fortified hill of the Acropolis.

A – fragment of the Parthenon, b – clothing, c – fragment of the Erechtheion capital, d – golden comb, e – vase, f – chair, g – table.

Even from the ruins you can imagine how beautiful the Acropolis was in its time. A wide marble staircase led up the hill. To her right, on a raised platform, like a precious casket, there is a small elegant temple to the goddess of victory Nike. Through gates with columns, the visitor entered the square, in the center of which stood a statue of the patroness of the city, the goddess of wisdom Athena; further on one could see the Erechtheion, a unique and complex temple in plan. Its distinctive feature is the portico protruding from the side, where the ceilings were supported not by columns, but by marble sculptures in the form of a female figure, the so-called. Caryatids.

The main building of the Acropolis is the Parthenon Temple dedicated to Athena. This temple - the most perfect structure in the Doric style - was completed almost two and a half thousand years ago, but we know the names of its creators: their names were Iktin and Kallikrates.

The Propylaea is a monumental gate with Doric style columns and a wide staircase. They were built by the architect Mnesicles in 437-432 BC. But before entering these majestic marble gates, everyone involuntarily turned to the right. There, on the high pedestal of the bastion that once guarded the entrance to the acropolis, stands the temple of the goddess of victory Nike Apteros, decorated with Ionic columns. This is the work of the architect Callicrates (second half of the 5th century BC). The temple - light, airy, unusually beautiful - stood out with its whiteness against the blue background of the sky.

The goddess of victory Nike was depicted as a beautiful woman with large wings: victory is fickle and flies from one opponent to another. The Athenians depicted her as wingless so that she would not leave the city that had recently won a great victory over the Persians. Deprived of wings, the goddess could no longer fly and had to remain in Athens forever.

The Nika Temple stands on a rock ledge. It is slightly turned towards the Propylaea and plays the role of a beacon for processions going around the rock.
Immediately beyond the Propylaea, Athena the Warrior stood proudly, whose spear greeted the traveler from afar and served as a beacon for sailors. The inscription on the stone pedestal read: “The Athenians dedicated from the victory over the Persians.” This meant that the statue was cast from bronze weapons taken from the Persians as a result of their victories.

In the temple there was a statue of Athena, sculpted by the great sculptor Phidias; one of the two marble friezes, a 160-meter ribbon that encircled the temple, represented the festive procession of the Athenians. Phidias also took part in the creation of this magnificent relief, which depicted about three hundred human figures and two hundred horses. The Parthenon has been in ruins for about 300 years - ever since in the 17th century, during the siege of Athens by the Venetians, the Turks who ruled there built a gunpowder warehouse in the temple. Most of the reliefs that survived the explosion were taken to London, to the British Museum, by the Englishman Lord Elgin at the beginning of the 19th century.

At the beginning of our millennium, when Greece was transferred to Byzantium during the division of the Roman Empire, the Erechtheion was turned into a Christian temple. Later, the crusaders, who captured Athens, made the temple a ducal palace, and during the Turkish conquest of Athens in 1458, a harem of the commandant of the fortress was installed in the Erechtheion. During the liberation war of 1821-1827, the Greeks and Turks took turns besieging the Acropolis, bombarding its structures, including the Erechtheion.

In 1830 (after the proclamation of Greek independence), only foundations could be found at the site of the Erechtheion, as well as architectural decorations lying on the ground. Funds for the restoration of this temple ensemble (as well as for the restoration of many other structures of the Acropolis) were given by Heinrich Schliemann. His closest associate V. Derpfeld carefully measured and compared the ancient fragments; by the end of the 70s of the last century he was already planning to restore the Erechtheion. But this reconstruction was subjected to severe criticism, and the temple was dismantled. The building was rebuilt under the leadership of the famous Greek scientist P. Kavadias in 1906 and finally restored in 1922/

As a result of the conquests of Alexander the Great in the second half of the 4th century BC. the influence of Greek culture and art spread over vast territories. New cities arose; The largest centers developed, however, outside Greece. These are, for example, Alexandria in Egypt and Pergamum in Asia Minor, where construction activity was on the greatest scale. In these areas the Ionic style was preferred; An interesting example of it was the huge tombstone of the Asia Minor king Mavsol, ranked among the seven wonders of the world.

It was a burial chamber on a high rectangular base, surrounded by a colonnade, and above it rose a stone step pyramid, topped with a sculptural image of a quadriga, which was ruled by Mausolus himself. After this structure, other large ceremonial funeral structures were subsequently called mausoleums.

In the Hellenistic era, less attention was paid to temples, and colonnaded squares for walks, open-air amphitheaters, libraries, various kinds of public buildings, palaces and sports facilities were built. Residential buildings were improved: they became two- and three-story, with large gardens. Luxury became the goal, and different styles were mixed in architecture.

Greek sculptors gave the world works that aroused the admiration of many generations. The oldest sculptures known to us arose in the archaic era. They are somewhat primitive: their motionless pose, hands tightly pressed to the body, and gaze directed forward are dictated by the narrow long stone block from which the statue was carved. She usually has one leg pushed forward to maintain balance. Archaeologists have found many such statues depicting naked young men and girls dressed in flowing, loose folds. Their faces are often enlivened by a mysterious “archaic” smile.

In the classical era, the main business of sculptors was to create statues of gods and heroes and decorate temples with reliefs; to this were added secular images, for example, statues of statesmen or winners at the Olympic Games.

In the beliefs of the Greeks, the gods are similar to ordinary people both in their appearance and way of life. They were portrayed as people, but strong, well-developed physically and with a beautiful face. People were often depicted naked to show the beauty of a harmoniously developed body.

In the 5th century BC. the great sculptors Myron, Phidias and Polykleitos, each in their own way, updated the art of sculpture and brought it closer to reality. Young naked athletes of Polykleitos, for example his “Doriphoros”, rest on only one leg, the other is left freely. In this way it was possible to rotate the figure and create a sense of movement. But standing marble figures could not be given more expressive gestures or complex poses: the statue could lose its balance, and the fragile marble could break. These dangers could be avoided if the figures were cast in bronze. The first master of complex bronze castings was Myron, the creator of the famous “Discobolus”.

Many artistic achievements are associated with the glorious name of Phidias: he supervised the work of decorating the Parthenon with friezes and pediment groups. His bronze statue of Athena on the Acropolis and the 12-meter high gold and ivory statue of Athena in the Parthenon, which later disappeared without a trace, are magnificent. A similar fate befell a huge statue of Zeus seated on a throne, made from the same materials, for the temple at Olympia - another of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

As much as we admire the sculptures created by the Greeks in their heyday, they can seem a little cold these days. True, the coloring that enlivened them at one time is missing; but their indifferent and similar faces are even more alien to us. Indeed, the Greek sculptors of that time did not try to express any feelings or experiences on the faces of the statues. Their goal was to show perfect bodily beauty. Therefore, we admire even those statues - and there are many of them - that over the centuries have been badly damaged: some have even lost their heads.

If in the 5th century BC. sublime and serious images were created, then in the 4th century BC. artists tended to express tenderness and softness. Praxiteles gave the warmth and thrill of life to the smooth marble surface in his sculptures of naked gods and goddesses. He also found the opportunity to vary the poses of the statues by creating balance with the help of appropriate supports. His Hermes, the young messenger of the gods, leans on a tree trunk.

Until now, sculptures were designed to be viewed from the front. Lysippos made his statues so that they could be viewed from all sides - this was another innovation.

In the Hellenistic era, the desire for pomp and exaggeration in sculpture intensified. Some works show excessive passions, while others show excessive closeness to nature. At this time he began to diligently copy the statues of former times; Thanks to copies, today we know many monuments - either irretrievably lost or not yet found. Marble sculptures that conveyed strong feelings were created in the 4th century BC. e. Skopas.

His largest work known to us is his participation in decorating the mausoleum in Halicarnassus with sculptural reliefs. Among the most famous works of the Hellenistic era are the reliefs of the great altar in Pergamum depicting the legendary battle; a statue of the goddess Aphrodite found at the beginning of the last century on the island of Melos, as well as the sculptural group “Laocoon”. It depicts a Trojan priest and his sons who were strangled by snakes; physical torment and fear are conveyed by the author with ruthless verisimilitude.

In the works of ancient writers one can read that painting also flourished in their times, but almost nothing has survived from the paintings of temples and residential buildings. We also know that in painting, artists strived for sublime beauty.

A special place in Greek painting belongs to paintings on vases. In the most ancient vases, silhouettes of people and animals were painted with black varnish on the bare red surface. The outlines of the details were scratched on them with a needle - they appeared in the form of a thin red line. But this technique was inconvenient and later they began to leave the figures red, and the spaces between them were painted black. This way it was more convenient to draw the details - they were done on a red background with black lines.

The Balkan Peninsula became the center of ancient Greek culture. Here, as a result of the invasions and movements of the Achaean, Dorian, Ionian and other tribes (who received the common name Hellenes), a slave-owning form of economy emerged, which strengthened various areas of the economy: crafts, trade, agriculture.

The development of economic ties of the Hellenic world contributed to its political unity; The enterprise of the sailors who settled new lands favored the spread of Greek culture, its renewal and improvement, and the creation of various local schools in the same vein of pan-Hellenic architecture.

As a result of the struggle of the demos (the free population of cities) against the tribal aristocracy, states are formed - policies, in the management of which all citizens take part.

The democratic form of government contributed to the development of the public life of cities, the formation of various public institutions, for which meeting and feast halls, buildings of the council of elders, etc. were built. They were located in the square (agora), where the most important city affairs were discussed and trade deals were made. The religious and political center of the city was the acropolis, located on a high hill and well fortified. Temples of the most revered gods - the patrons of the city - were built here.

Religion occupied a large place in the social ideology of the ancient Greeks. The gods were close to people; they were endowed with exaggerated human advantages and disadvantages. In the myths that describe the life of the gods and their adventures, everyday scenes from the life of the Greeks themselves are guessed. But at the same time, people believed in their power, made sacrifices to them and built temples in the image of their homes. The most significant achievements of Greek architecture are concentrated in religious architecture.

The dry subtropical climate of Greece, mountainous terrain, high seismicity, the presence of high-quality timber, limestone, marble, which can be easily processed and modeled in stone structures, determined the “technical” prerequisites for Greek architecture.

During the Hellenistic period, the square received its urban planning completion with porticoes that provided shelter from the sun and rain. The post-and-beam design of these building elements was the main object of constructive and artistic developments in ancient Greek architecture.

Stages of development of ancient Greek architecture:

• XIII – XII centuries BC e. – The Homeric period, vividly and colorfully described by Homer’s poems
• VII – VI centuries BC e. – archaic period (the struggle of slave-owning democracy against the tribal nobility, the formation of cities - policies)
• V – IV centuries. BC e. – classical period (Greco-Persian wars, the era of the heyday of culture, the decomposition of the union of policies)
• IV century BC. – l c. AD – Hellenistic period (the creation of the empire of Alexander the Great, the spread of Greek culture and its flourishing in the colonies of Asia Minor)

1 – temple in anta, 2 – prostyle, 3 – amphiprostyle, 4 – peripterus, 5 – dipterus, 6 – pseudodipterus, 7 – tholos.

Architecture of the Homeric period. The architecture of this period continues the Cretan-Mycenaean traditions. The most ancient residential buildings, built of adobe brick or megaron rubble stone, had a rounded wall opposite the entrance. With the introduction of frames, molded bricks and cut stone blocks of standard sizes, buildings became rectangular in plan.

Architecture of the archaic period. With the growth of cities and the formation of the polis, slave-owning tyranny emerged, based on the support of the free population. Various forms of public institutions emerged: symposiums, boulevards, theaters, stadiums.

Along with city temples and sacred sites, pan-Hellenic sanctuaries are being built. The planning composition of the sanctuaries took into account the difficult terrain conditions and the very nature of religious ceremonies, which were primarily cheerful holidays with solemn processions. Therefore, temples were placed taking into account their visual perception by the participants in the processions.

The peristyle type of residential building was finally established in the Hellenistic regions. The isolation of the home from the external environment still remains. Rich houses had swimming pools, lavishly decorated interiors with paintings, mosaics, and sculptures. In the landscaped courtyard there were cozy places to relax and fountains.

The Greeks built well-equipped harbors and lighthouses. History has preserved descriptions of giant lighthouses on the island. Rhodes and on. Pharos in Alexandria.

The Rhodes lighthouse was a huge copper statue depicting Helios - the sun god and patron of the island - with a lit torch, anointing the entrance to the harbor. The statue was built by the Rhodians c. 235 BC e. in honor of their military victories. Nothing has survived from her; it is not even known how tall she was. The Greek historian Philo calls the figure “seventy cubits,” i.e., about 40 m.

The republican system of Rhodes contributed to the extraordinary flowering of art. To judge the Rhodian sculptural school, it is enough to mention the world famous work “Laocoon”.

Alexandria is the capital of Hellenistic Egypt, part of the empire founded by Alexander the Great. At the end of the 4th century. BC e. the largest scientific center is being organized here - Museion, where prominent Greek scientists worked: mathematician Euclid (III century BC), astronomer Claudius Ptolemy (II century), doctors, writers, philosophers, artists. Under Museion, the famous Library of Alexandria was created. The city stood on the trade routes of the Greeks with the eastern countries: it had large port facilities and convenient bays.

At the northern tip of the island. Pharos, forming a protected harbor in front of the city, at the end of the 3rd century. BC. A lighthouse was built in the form of a high multi-tiered tower with a pavilion, where a bright fire was constantly maintained. According to historians, its height was 150 - 180 m.

During the Hellenistic era, Greek culture penetrated into the most remote corners of the civilized world. Cultural exchange was facilitated by the extensive conquests of Alexander the Great.

The architecture of Ancient Greece determined the direction of development of world architecture for a long time. In the architecture of a rare country, the general tectonic principles of order systems developed by the Greeks, details and decoration of Greek temples were not used.

The viability of the principles of ancient Greek architecture is explained primarily by its humanism, deep thoughtfulness in general and detail, and extreme clarity of forms and compositions.

The Greeks brilliantly solved the problem of transitioning purely technical structural problems of architecture to artistic ones. The unity of artistic and constructive content was brought to the heights of perfection in various order systems.

The works of Greek architecture are distinguished by their surprisingly harmonious combination with the natural environment. A great contribution has been made to the theory and practice of construction, to the formation of the environment of a residential building, and to the system of urban engineering services. The foundations of standardization and modularity in construction, developed by the architecture of subsequent eras, have been developed.

Literature

• Sokolov G.I. Acropolis in Athens. M., 1968Brunov N.I. Monuments of the Athens Acropolis. Parthenon and Erechtheion. M., 1973 Acropolis. Warsaw, 1983
• History of foreign art.– M., “Fine Arts”, 1984
• Georgios Dontas. Acropolis and its museum.– Athens, “Clio”, 1996
• Bodo Harenberg. Chronicle of humanity.– M., “Big Encyclopedia”, 1996
• History of world art.– BMM JSC, M., 1998
• Art of the Ancient World. Encyclopedia.– M., “OLMA-PRESS”, 2001
• Pausanias . Description of Hellas, I-II, M., 1938-1940.
• "Pliny on Art", trans. B.V. Warneke, Odessa, 1900.
• Plutarch . Comparative biographies, vol. I-III, M., 1961 -1964.
• Blavatsky V.D. Greek sculpture, M.-L., 1939.
• Brunov N. I. Essays on the history of architecture, vol. II, Greece, M., 1935.
• Waldgauer O. F. Antique sculpture, Ig., 1923.
• Kobylina M. M. Attic sculpture, M., 1953.
• Kolobova K. M. The ancient city of Athens and its monuments, Leningrad, 1961.
• Kolpinsky Yu. D. Sculpture of ancient Hellas (album), M., 1963.
• Sokolov G.I. Antique sculpture, part I, Greece (album), M., 1961.
• Farmakovsky B.V. The artistic ideal of democratic Athens, Pg., 1918.

The architectural construction of the ancient Greeks is associated with religion and cult. The main object for the architects was the temple. The peculiarities of the construction and artistic form of temples were transferred to the creation of other buildings. Over many years of history, the type of ancient Greek temple has not changed. The tradition of constructing temple buildings was inherited by Ancient Rome.

Ancient Greek temples were noticeably different from ancient Egyptian religious buildings. They were more down to earth. Gods with human appearance lived here. The place itself was rich and ornate.

At first, the buildings of the gods were built of wood. When they began to use stone, wooden structures and techniques for their creation were preserved.

The Greeks did not build grandiose structures. The temple, of moderate size, stood on a foundation with several steps within a consecrated enclosure. It was simple and resembled a rectangular house made of two squares. The temple was covered with a gable roof with a gentle slope.

One of the sides faced the outside, but not as a wall, but as a specially created porch or entryway. They were represented by 2 pilasters along the edges and columns standing between them. The number of columns was always even. The resulting space (1/3 of a square) was partitioned off by a wall, where a door leading to the sanctuary was built.

The sanctuary was a space without windows or doors with a single entrance, in the middle of which stood a statue of a deity. It was inaccessible to ordinary mortals; only priests could enter here.

Types of Ancient Greek Temples

Ancient Greek temples, built using the same technology, differed in type.

1) A “prostyle” temple with a portico: a portico with columns was built in front of the front door.

2) An “amphiprostyle” temple with 2 porticos: a portico was added to the temple with two porches.

3) The “round-winged” (“peripteric”) temple consisted of a temple built on a platform and surrounded on 4 sides by a colonnade.

4) The temple is “double-circular” (“dipteric”): the columns surrounding the main building are installed in 2 circles.

5) The temple is “false round”: instead of columns, there are half-columns protruding from the walls.

6) The temple is “complex double-circular”: columns in one circle were combined with half-columns in the next.

Thus, columns played a major role in the architecture of ancient Greek temples. The column, with its shape, proportions, and decorative decoration, determined the style of the entire building. It was the difference in ideas about the creation of columns that caused the emergence of 2 directions in ancient Greek architecture: the architecture of the Doric order and the Ionic order.

The main material that the Greeks used in construction was stone. At the dawn of the heyday of ancient Greek temple architecture, soft stone or limestone was used.

The Acropolis in Athens was built from it in the 6th century BC. e. and other public buildings. A later version of the Acropolis, rebuilt by Pericles, included the use of marble.

Raw and burnt bricks were the main resource for the construction of residential buildings. The outside of the house was covered with stone slabs.

Wooden beams were used to construct the floors. Often, in the early stages of construction, the columns of religious buildings were also made of wood (Temple of Hera at Olympia).

Subsequently they were replaced with stone ones. They reinforced the masonry with veneers, tenons and metal staples.

The buildings of ancient Greece were human-oriented. Maintaining harmony in proportions, Hellenic masters created an artistic system of decoration and construction of buildings, consisting of a combination of load-bearing (supporting) and non-bearing (overlapping) elements (7th century BC). They called it a post-and-beam structure or order system.

Order system

There are three order types:

Doric;

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Ionic;

Corinthian.

The Doric appeared earlier than the others; the last to appear was the Corinthian order (Temple of Apollo in Bassae). All three orders were built according to the same compositional system. She divided the building into three parts:

Stereobate (base);

Column trunk (rack-mount structure);

Entablature (beam structure).

The column was also divided into three levels (from bottom to top):

Barrel (fust);

Capital.

The base was an intermediate link between the stereobat and the column trunk. The capital was supported by an entablature, which lay on the abacus.

Doric is the simplest order. He did without the base and decorative details. The Ionic tapered upward and ended with a currency capital. The Corinthian order was decorated with vertical slits in the column trunk (flutes) and had a lavishly decorated capital.

The entablature was also divided into three parts (from bottom to top):

Architrave;

The order system has become widespread throughout the world. Architects still use its principles.

It was this scheme that formed the basis of the ancient Greek temples, which were the dwellings of the gods. Initially, the Greeks settled their gods surrounded by nature.

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Altars were installed in natural grottoes and groves. With the advent of the temple, the sacred rites were transferred under its roof.

Ancient architects chose the most elevated places for construction. Their idea was to connect the building with the surrounding nature.

The temple was erected on a stone foundation, surrounded by an even number of columns, and had a portico and a gable roof. A statue of a god was placed inside.

The first buildings were divided into several parts in plan:

Naos (main hall);

Pronaos (entrance portico);

Opisthodom (treasury).

The exterior took precedence over the interior, where only the priest was allowed. The main worship took place outside the walls of the temple - outside. The interior did not play any role.

According to the number and distribution of columns, temples were divided into the following types:

Temple in anta (one or two columns between the walls);

Prostyle (colonnade on the entrance facade);

Amphiprostyle (colonnade on both facades);

Peripterus (a colonnade surrounds the perimeter of the temple);

Dipter (double colonnade along the perimeter);

Monopterus (temple with a round plan).

The stone walls of ancient temples were actively painted with paints mixed with wax.