Description of an ancient Greek temple. Architecture of Ancient Greece

Ancient Greece is the birthplace of real treasures of art and architecture. Until now, even the ruins of temples built in time immemorial amaze with their grandeur and precise proportions. It was the Greeks who unraveled the secret of noble beauty by inventing the order. This may seem unimportant, but all European architecture rests on it!

Knossos Palace, or a visit to the Minotaur

Cities and writing in Europe originated on the Mediterranean island of Crete. The most powerful city on the island was the legendary Knossos. It was here that the foundation of the famous Labyrinth was laid, to which all the roads of the island led. In ancient Greek mythology, Knossos is associated with the name of the infamous Cretan king Minos.

The Palace of Knossos was perhaps the most complex multi-storey building of those times. There was no clear, regular plan for its construction. It is quite possible that the premises located at different levels were completed as needed.

It was easy to get lost in the palace: many corridors, halls, secret staircases and passages confused anyone caught inside the giant architectural web. Rooms with different purposes were located around a rectangular courtyard in the center of the palace.

It is difficult to imagine the architect who created this engineering miracle. That is why the story was born that the builder was the famous Greek architect Daedalus - an artist and engineer who became famous for the invention of tools.

For all its chaos, the Palace of Knossos was literally filled with advanced inventions of the time. The labyrinth was equipped with running water and sewerage. The role of windows was played by light wells - large openings in the ceiling. They also provided natural ventilation of the rooms, that is, they were a kind of air conditioners.

According to legend, the king of Crete, Minos, kept a monster, the Minotaur, in his labyrinth palace, and boys and girls were to be sent from Athens to be devoured by him.

A special feature of the Knossos Palace are the blood-red columns. They are called irrational. In contrast to the usual column that widens downward, these columns, on the contrary, narrow downward. There is an assumption that this unusual shape of the columns was created in order not to interfere with the passage of light from the light shafts surrounding these columns. In any case, such columns have not yet been found anywhere else.

Despite the grandeur of the Knossos Palace, the Greeks subsequently abandoned such complex architectural solutions in favor of grace, nobility and beauty.

What is an ancient Greek temple

For the ancient Greeks, religion was an indispensable component of life. Living in rather unattractive houses, they built stunningly beautiful temples for the gods. Each temple was built to worship a specific god.

Ruins of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. VI–IV centuries BC e.

The ancient Greek temple was a rectangular white stone structure without windows, surrounded on all sides by columns in one or several rows, with a majestic statue of a deity inside. The columns supported the gable roof. A marble staircase led to the main entrance. Even in the archaic era, the Greeks preferred white marble and yellowish limestone to wood. This material not only looked noble, but was also durable.

Ordinary people were not allowed to enter the temple. Only priests could be here. Therefore, mere mortals admired the beauty of the structure from the outside. All the holidays that the ancient Greeks organized in honor of the gods took place in the vicinity of the marble giants.

It’s hard for us to imagine now, but in ancient times Greek temples were brightly painted! Their current “colorless” state is the result of many past years.

Greek temples are very different from each other - in terms of construction, in the number of columns and many other details. The most popular type of this building was the peripterus - a rectangular temple surrounded by columns on all sides. The number of marble pillars could not be arbitrary, but was calculated in a certain way - the ancient Greeks greatly valued the exact sciences!

Peripterus - this word can be translated as “round-winged”: this was the name of the temple, framed on all sides by a colonnade. A diptera surrounded by columns in two or more rows means “two-winged.”

Any average ancient Greek could calculate the number of columns. To do this, he solved a simple problem. There were six columns on both facades (front and rear), and the number of columns on the sides of the building was determined by the formula 2p + 1, where p is the number of columns on the front facade. Not difficult at all!

Another popular type of construction was the diptera - a rectangular temple with two or more rows of columns on the side facades. Such, for example, is the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus.

Architectural order - the pillar of European architecture

The word “order” is usually used to designate the greatest invention of the ancient Greeks, on which, in the literal sense of the word, all European architecture is based. The term itself was first introduced into use by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius. This word comes from the Latin ordo and actually means “order, order.” In architecture, this term began to denote a special type of composition where necessary elements are used, strictly subordinate to the architectural style.

Any ancient Greek order consists of three main parts. The first part is the base, which is located on the foundation just above ground level. The second part is a column, a supporting element of the architectural structure. It is absolutely necessary because it supports the roof and all its components. The third part of the order is the carried element, which was named very beautifully: the entablature.

Since the ancient Greeks loved scientific precision and constantly multiplied and divided something, they also divided the entablature. Here are its elements: architrave - a crossbar located directly on the columns; frieze - a decorative strip with images of Greek heroes and various mythological creatures; the cornice is the upper part of the entablature; it protrudes sharply forward and protects the architrave and frieze from rain. By the way, the role of the cornice has still remained unchanged. The ancient Greeks invented and built to last!

Capitals of classical orders - Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, as well as composite order. 18th century illustration

There are three types of classical order: Doric, Ionic and Corinthian. The Romans, having conquered Greece and adopted absolutely all the achievements of the Greeks in architecture, nevertheless themselves came up with two more - Tuscan and composite.

The orders received their names from the geographical areas where one or another order was distributed. Once it appeared, the order was used in all types of structures. True, least of all in amphitheaters. Why? Let's figure it out.

Amphitheaters of ancient Greece

Being civilized people, the Greeks loved entertainment and spectacle. Like religion, the art of theater was inseparable from the life of each of them. Therefore, the history of the theater, theater building and stage technology originates precisely in Ancient Greece.

Popular festivals, processions in honor of the god Dionysus, sports competitions and oratorical competitions attracted huge crowds. That is why the venues for these performances were located at the vast foothills of the hills and mountains.

Later, the Greeks began to install wooden benches for sitting. And starting from the 4th century BC. e. temporary structures were rebuilt into stone amphitheaters.

The ancient Greeks were real aesthetes. In construction, they paid exceptional attention to natural conditions. Spectators not only watched the theatrical performance, but also admired both the theater itself and the surrounding landscape.

Anyone who has ever been to a modern theater knows that in order to enjoy the performance, you need to buy a ticket for a good seat. There was no such problem in the Greek amphitheater. The spectator platforms were built across the slope, and the stage area was located below. From every seat the audience could see and hear everything perfectly. In natural terrain, the acoustics were simply magnificent! You could throw a coin into the center of the arena - and the ringing sound from its fall could be heard to the very last row of spectators.

One of the first theaters built in Ancient Greece was the Theater of Dionysus in Athens, named after the temple located opposite.

Invented by the Greeks, the amphitheater is the most common form of auditorium today. Only... you still have to choose a good place.

Ictinus and Callicrates. The birth of classicism

Not all times in Ancient Greece were equally successful for the development of architecture. For example, from time to time there were wars in which the Greeks often lost. This stopped the development of the entire ancient Greek culture, and first of all, architecture.

The most fertile period for the flourishing of the state of Ancient Greece was the reign of the legendary king Pericles. This ruler did a lot for the prosperity of Athens and the subsequent glory of the city. In his era, the main construction was carried out on a fortified hill - the Acropolis. And the supervision of the work was entrusted to the famous sculptor and architect Phidias.

Even from the surviving ruins one can imagine how beautiful the Acropolis was in its time. A wide marble staircase led up the hill. To her right, on a hill, a small elegant temple was built, dedicated to the goddess of victory Nike. Through a gate with columns - the Propylaea - the visitor entered the square. In its center stood a statue of the goddess of wisdom Athena, the patroness of the city. A little further away one could see the Erechtheion temple with a portico protruding from the side. The top of the portico was supported not by columns, but by marble female figures. These stone ladies were called caryatids.

According to legend, the word “caryatid” comes from the name of the city of Caria, whose inhabitants entered into a conspiracy with the enemy during the Greco-Persian wars. In memory of this, the caryatids - images of Carian women - played the role of architectural supports.

The main building of the Acropolis is the Parthenon Temple, dedicated to Athena. It was completed almost two and a half thousand years ago, but history has brought to us the names of its creators: Iktin and Kallikrates. The creations of these masters were so perfect that architects of subsequent eras began to use them as a model. We can say that it is to these architects that we owe the birth of a style for all times - classicism. Classic means exemplary.

The Erechtheion Temple was named after the legendary Athenian king Erechtheus: parts of his tomb were allegedly kept there.

Thus, the order invented by the Greeks was first adopted by the Romans, who admired Greek culture, and through them spread throughout Europe.

Athens Acropolis. V century BC e. Architects and builders: Phidias, Callicrates, Ictinus, Mnesicles

L. Alma-Tadema “Phidias showing the Parthenon frieze to friends” (1868)

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.

Introduction

Architecture of Ancient Greece

Types of Ancient Greek Temples

Temples in Doric style

Parthenon

Conclusion

List of sources used

Applications

Introduction

Thousands of years separate us from the ancient Greeks. The face of the world has changed beyond recognition, having repeatedly experienced the brutal breakdown of the old, bloody world wars.

However, even now, when man has stepped into space, the study of antiquity has not lost its relevance. Works of ancient art “still continue to give us artistic pleasure and, in a certain respect, serve as a norm and an unattainable example.”

When looking at the artistic masterpieces of that distant era through the centuries, we hear the solemn and hymn music of the beauty and greatness of the creator, who likened himself to the Olympian gods. The best monuments of ancient art have entered our lives as an integral part of world culture, as our heritage. For “without the foundation that was laid by Greece and Rome, there would be no modern Europe.”

The architecture of ancient Greece, covering mainly the 8th-1st centuries BC in its development, is divided into three periods: archaic, classical and Hellenistic.

The archaic period (8th - early 5th centuries BC) coincides with the time of the final formation of the polis and the formation of the main types of religious and public buildings.

From the second period, covering the time from 480 to the end of the 4th century. we should highlight the time of the highest dawn of the policies (480-400), to which the name “classical period” is applied. The leading place in this era belongs to Athens, where, during the “golden age” of the reign of Pericles, the development of slave-owning democracy, and with it art and architecture, reached its highest point.

The third period is the era of Hellenism (320s of the 4th century - 1st century AD) - the time of the emergence of the Greek-Eastern monarchies and the intensive expansion of Hellenic culture into the new cities of Asia Minor and Egypt, which became major centers of trade and cultural life. V. BC. characterized by the growth of cities and the expansion of construction scales. From the middle of the century, monumental buildings made of stone, mainly soft limestone, began to appear. The main type of these structures were temples, which were not only places of worship, but also partly public buildings.

In the 7th century BC. Various types of temples are developed, and a certain order is established in relation to parts of the building, a system of combining decorative and structural parts, called an order.

Built according to the rules of the order, the Greek temple was the most significant building in the city both in terms of its purpose and the place its architecture occupied in the entire ensemble of the city. The order temple was a kind of pinnacle in Greek architecture; it had a tremendous impact on the subsequent history of world architecture.

1. Architecture of Ancient Greece

The structures of ancient Greek architecture can safely be called huge works of jewelry art, in which there was nothing secondary for the master.

The Greeks brought the processing of architectural buildings and all decorative details, without exception, to the highest degree of perfection and refinement, and enriched them with sculpture. The architecture of Ancient Greece always amazed me with its strict silhouette, the harmony and proportionality of simple forms and clear lines, which gave it a sense of upward direction, into the infinitely blue sky. She is so solemnly emotional. So sunny and airy. Despite the monumentality of some temples, they do not overwhelm with their size, but evoke a feeling of peace and spiritual flight.

The main room of the Greek temple is a solid stone volume - cella. It is erected on a stepped base - a stereobat and is surrounded along the perimeter by columns. The columns support a horizontal beam ceiling - an entablature with a gable roof resting on it, which forms a triangle on the narrow side - a pediment. The entablature consists of three horizontal beams arranged in order from bottom to top: architrave, frieze, cornice. In the cella there was a statue of the god to whom the temple was dedicated. You could get to it through the door on the east side. The lighting inside the temple was natural - through the grating at the entrance (from there sunlight penetrated into the temple).

The proportions of the building and its picturesque image were determined by the architectural order - one of the greatest inventions of Greek architects. This is the order of the relationship between the support, load-bearing and supported parts of the building, which is an architectural and artistic system of post-beam construction. The support may exist in the form of a podium, a multi-stage stereobat, or it may be absent or be designed differently. The supporting system is a wall or column. Carried - an entablature located on top.

In the architecture of Ancient Greece, there were three orders that differed in style: Doric, Ionic, Corinthian. The first two arose during the archaic period.

The Doric order is the strongest and heaviest. The column has no base and stands directly on the stylobate. Her proportions are usually squat and powerful. At a height of one third, the column has a uniform thickening, which creates a feeling of elastic resistance to the weight of the entablature. The column consists of a trunk tapering upward, cut with flutes, which were made, apparently, in order to enliven the monotony of its smooth cylindrical surface and so that their perspective reduction from the sides of the column would allow the eye to better feel its roundness and produce a play of light and shadow. The capital completed the trunk of the column. The capital consisted of an echinus - a round stone pillow and an abacus - a low slab that absorbed the pressure of the entablature. The Doric column is usually compared to the image of a hero, and the order itself symbolizes his strength. Columns of this order were placed mainly at the bottom of the architectural structure.

The Doric order architrave is smooth. The frieze is decorated with triglyphs and metopes. Triglyphs in their origin go back to the protruding ends of wooden beams and are divided into three stripes by vertical grooves. Metopes - square-shaped rectangular slabs - fill the spaces between the triglyphs. The surface of the metope is usually decorated with relief decoration, which in the architecture of ancient Greece had the character of a plot scene, but was later reduced to a decorative motif. The entablature ends with a cornice.

Examples of the Doric order are the temples of Hera in Olympia, Apollo in Corinth, and Demeter in Poseidonia.

In the Ionic order, all forms are lighter, more gentle and graceful. The column of this order represents the grace of a woman. It is taller, slimmer and more proportional than the Doric, has a base, covered with flutes in greater numbers, and they are cut into it much deeper, separated from each other by small smooth spaces and do not reach the very top and bottom of the column, ending in a rounding. The capital of the Ionic column consists of two graceful curls - volutes.

The architrave is divided horizontally into three stripes, which makes it seem lighter. The frieze is decorated with a ribbon of continuous relief that encircles the entire entablature. The cornice is richly decorated.

The buildings of the Ionic order are the temples of Artemis in Ephesus, the temple of Hera on the island of Samos, as well as the temples of the sanctuary at Delphi.

In Greek architecture there was another order - the Corinthian, which arose later than others and was particularly light. The Corinthian column is thinner and slimmer than the Ionic, although it is very similar to it, however, the capital and abacus are completely different. She can be compared to the image of a beautiful girl. The column is crowned by a lush basket-shaped capital with a floral ornament of acanthus leaves and spiral tendrils of grapes at the corners; the abacus has the shape of a square with cut off corners and arched sides; in the middle of each of these sides there is a rosette. In multi-story buildings, columns of this order were placed on top.

Examples of the Corinthian order are the temple of Apollo in Bassae, the temple of Zeus in Athens (Fig. 1).

The order was a general system of rules and aesthetic norms, but the ancient architects used them creatively when constructing each temple. Therefore, the composition of Greek temples was different and order stylistic elements were used specifically in each type of structure.

2. Types of ancient Greek temples

The simplest and earliest type of temple was the distil, or "temple in the antas." It consists of a sanctuary - cella, rectangular in plan, the front facade of which is a loggia with a central opening. On the sides the loggia is limited by side walls, which are called anta. Two columns were placed between the antas along the front pediment (that’s why the temple was called “distile”, i.e. “two-columned”).

The second, also relatively simple type of temple is the prostyle. It is similar to the ante style, the only difference is that the prostyle has not two, but four columns on the facade.

The third type is amphiprostyle. It's like a double style - porticoes with four columns are located on both the front and rear facades of the building.

The fourth type of temple is the peripterus. This is the most common type of temple. It is surrounded by columns on all sides, along the perimeter. Usually there are six columns on the front and rear facades, and the number of side ones was determined by formula 2 ? + 1, Where ? - the number of columns on the front facade.

Sometimes on the side facades there were not one, but two rows of columns. This type of temple is called a diptera.

There was another type of temple in Greece - a round peripterus, where the sanctuary - cella - had a cylindrical shape, and the entire perimeter of the temple was surrounded by a ring of columns (Fig. 2).

3. Temples in Doric style

The early buildings of the Doric style include the Temple of Hera in Olympia (late 7th - early 6th century BC). It had a cella strongly elongated from west to east, framed on all sides by relatively low columns, which created the impression of a single, squat building. The number of columns was: on the main facade - 6, on the side ones - 16. The columns were at first wooden and gradually, over the centuries, as they deteriorated, they were replaced by stone ones.

Within the cella (naos) there were two rows of columns, the latter being connected through one to the side walls enclosing the cella. This design arose as a result of the desire to further strengthen the load-bearing structure of the building when converting it into a new building material at that time - stone.

First half of the 6th century BC dates back to the temple of Hera (I) at Paestum. An odd number of columns, nine on the main facade of this building, and a tsela divided by one row of columns along the axis of the structure are typically archaic features. The shape of the columns is peculiar: their upper diameter is much narrower than the lower one, the bulky capitals have an unusually large projection.

The well-preserved temple of Hera (II) at Paestum (late first quarter of the 5th century BC) is a large hexastyle (six-columned) peripterus built of rough limestone (6x14 columns).

The temple's outline in plan is already close to the monuments of classical times. Its proportions are harmonious, the details are distinguished by the richness and accuracy of the design. At the same time, the structure still contains archaic features (emphasized heaviness of the entire structure).

One of the highest achievements of Greek architecture is the Temple of Zeus at Olympia, built by the architect Libo between 468 and 456. BC e. The Doric peripter with 6X13 columns (their height is 10.5 m, the lower diameter is 2.25 m) is distinguished by extremely harmonious proportions. In the temple, complete aesthetic and visual balance was achieved between supporting and overlapping architectural elements. The details are sharpened with unusual perfection and are characterized by amazing fidelity to the design. The Temple of Zeus at Olympia is the highest achievement in the development of the Doric peripterus. The famous pediment sculptures are of particular interest in this truly classical building. Within the cella was a statue of Zeus by Phidias.

4. Parthenon

architecture Greece temple Parthenon

The Parthenon, or temple of the goddess Athena, is the most significant structure of Ancient Greece. It was the main temple of the ancient Greeks. The Parthenon is one of the most important buildings in the ensemble of the Athenian Acropolis (Fig. 5).

The temple was built in 447-438 BC. under the leadership of two talented architects - Iktin and Kallikrates. But according to the testimony of someone who lived BC. According to the ancient Greek historian Plutarch, during the construction of the Acropolis, the head and leader of all the artists was Phidias.”

The Parthenon is a Doric peripter with elements of the Ionic order (Fig. 3). It stands on a stylobate (69.5 m long and 30.9 m wide) - three marble steps, the total height of which is about 1.5 meters, and was covered with a tiled roof. On the side of the main (western) façade, more frequent steps were cut, intended for people. The temple has 8 columns on the facades and 17 on the sides (including the corner ones). This is one of the Ionic features of the Parthenon: for the Doric peripter, the usual ratio was 6 to 13. The height of the columns is 10.4 m, they are composed of 10-12 drums. The diameter of their base is 1.9 m, at the corner columns - 1.95 m. The diameter narrows upward. Twenty flutes are carved on each column. The plan of the Parthenon is based on the known ratio of length to width, which is determined by the diagonal of the quadrangle.

The interior (59 m long and 21.7 m wide) has two more steps (total height 0.7 m) and is amphiprostyle. The facades have porticoes with columns that are just below the peristyle columns. The eastern portico was pronaos, the western - posticum.

The cella, located to the east, was 29.9 m long (19.2 m wide), which was 100 Greek feet. Therefore, it was often called hecatompedon (one hundred foot temple). Two rows of Doric columns (9 in each) ended at the wall in a transverse row with three additional columns and formed three naves, the middle of which was significantly wider than the other two. It is believed that on the architrave of the first tier of columns there was a second one that supported the ceilings. In the central nave stood a statue of Athena Parthenos by Phidias. A hypephre was built above the statue. (Figure 4).

In the opisthodome (19.2 m long and 13.9 m wide), called the Parthenon (this name later spread to the entire temple), there were four tall columns, most likely Ionic. Two small doors led from here to the side aisles of the cella. Initially, gifts to the goddess were kept here. In 464 BC. e. The treasury of the Delian League was transported here. For a long time, the state archive was also located in the opisthodome.

Conclusion

And so all that remains is to summarize everything that has been said above. As follows from the work itself, the development of Greek architecture occurred during the reign of Pericles or, in other words, during the “classical period.”

Here we trace repeated changes in the styles of construction of buildings and temples. The transition from a heavy style to a lighter, more elegant, relaxed one.

Here we can also learn about how the restoration of the Acropolis took place in the classical period, what temples it included, “walk” through it in a solemn procession, “seeing” the location of all the majestic temples built in honor of the Greek Gods. Learn about the most majestic and honorable temple of that time, the Parthenon.

In this work, I tried to more or less reveal all the stages of the formation and transformation of architecture in Ancient Greece, examining this in detail on some buildings and temples of that time.

List of sources used

1.Dmitrieva N.A. Brief history of art / N.A. Dmitrieva - M.: Art, 2005. - 370 p.

2.Kolobova K.M. The ancient city of Athens and its monuments / K.M. Kolobova. - St. Petersburg: Neva, 2001. - 250 p.

.Lurie S.A. History of Greece / S.A. Lurie. - St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg University Publishing House, 2003. - 434 p.

.Lyubimov L. The Art of the Ancient World / L. Lyubimov. - M.: Education, 2000. - 385 p.

.Sokolov G.I. Acropolis in Athens / G.I. Sokolov. - M.: Amphora, 2000. - 126 p.

.Gnedych P.P. History of Art: In 3 volumes / P.P. Gnedych. - St. Petersburg: Publishing house. A.F. Marx, 1897. - T.1.

Applications

Tutoring

Need help studying a topic?

Our specialists will advise or provide tutoring services on topics that interest you.
Submit your application indicating the topic right now to find out about the possibility of obtaining a consultation.

In the history of the development of all European culture, the most important place is occupied by the art and culture of ancient Greece. On its basis, the classical canons of antiquity were formed.

In general, its cultural traditions were full of contradictions, because they were created in a society of slave-owning democracy. However, the works of ancient masters became the standard for the creators of many subsequent generations.

The first archaeological excavations at the beginning of the 18th century were carried out in the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, buried under the volcanic lava of Vesuvius. As a result of research, many unique examples of various works by masters of that era were discovered.

These are sculptures and relief images, dishes and household items, weapons and ancient tools. Among all the valuable specimens found, the surviving fragments of buildings attract special attention. They are of great interest to scientists in the process of studying the architectural appearance of the cities of ancient Greece.

Periods of development of ancient Greek architecture

The entire history of the development of architecture in ancient Greece can be divided into several periods:

• Homeric era(from the 12th to the middle of the 8th centuries BC) - the period of the origin and development of Hellenic architecture, a time of gradual decomposition of the clan system and the emergence of new class relations. Hellenic architecture was initially based on the traditions of Aegean culture, but later new, original features also emerged.

In the Bronze Age, temples were not yet built. And only at the beginning of the 8th century a temple appears, the design features of which are reminiscent of the megaron that arose earlier in. The main building material for the temple was unbaked brick, and the gable roof was made of wood.

Scientists gleaned most of the information about the appearance of buildings of that period from the works of Homer. In those days, houses were built from wood, which were fastened with metal sheathing for greater strength.

Another common type of building material was raw brick. Towards the end of the period, builders began to use fired tiles. This time was characterized by the construction of not only ordinary residential buildings, but also the first churches.

This period is notable for the formation of a special planning system, in which an important place is occupied by the colonnade surrounding the building on all sides. One of the earliest buildings of that period is considered temple of the goddess Hera on the island of Samos.

• Archaic period(from the 8th to the beginning of the 5th centuries BC) - characterized by the final formation of a slave state and the emergence of a city - a polis.

At the beginning of the Archaic period, the construction technique of wood and mud brick was also common. The only difference was in the use of terracotta cladding for finishing the temples. Subsequently, the most important and large-scale structures begin to be built from soft and easy-to-process limestone. At the end of the period, the most common material becomes .

During the 7th century BC, ancient Greek building art developed in several directions at once, which had significant differences.

During the archaic period, the first examples of monumental structures appeared, and various types of temples and other public buildings were formed.

The emergence and development of orders takes place, which subsequently become the basic and most recognizable elements of ancient Greek architecture.

• Classical period(from 480 to 400 BC) - the reign of Pericles, which is characterized by a high level of development of architecture and all spheres of art.

An order system perfected to perfection is widely used. The appearance of buildings becomes more sophisticated, and the style of the architects becomes recognizable.

Athens becomes the main city with a proper street layout. In other cities, new residential areas are also being built according to a single plan.

During this period, the architectural appearance of a typical Greek house was formed, which consists of a courtyard surrounded by porticoes, the prototype of which was the megaron.

The classical period was characterized by the appearance of open stone theaters and halls for music - odeions. Public buildings for gathering large numbers of people are taking on new forms.

• The era of the decomposition of policies(IV century BC) - during this period, temples lose their advanced significance, however, secular architecture develops with greater intensity and the layout of residential buildings is improved.

The buildings acquire greater sophistication and grace thanks to the use of the Ionic and Corinthian orders.

• Hellenistic era(330s - 1st century BC) - the period of the emergence of the Greco-Eastern monarchies and the penetration of ancient Greek culture into Asia Minor and Egypt.

The Hellenistic era was characterized by a mixture of different styles and orders for purely decorative purposes. But at the same time, the former brevity, monumentality and recognition of the order system are lost.

However, this fact does not at all prevent the creation of large-scale urban ensembles, in the architecture of which peristyle is widely used - rows of columns surrounding courtyards and squares.

Order system

An order in architecture is a system for displaying the structure of a structure in a certain form. With the development and establishment of the stylistics of various orders, the proportionality of the whole structure and its individual parts, composition and corresponding proportions are established. The forms of buildings are gradually improved, and Greek classics reaches the pinnacle of its development.

There were three main orders used in the architecture of ancient Greece:

• Doric
• Ionic
• Corinthian

The main difference between the architectural orders was primarily in the shapes of the columns and entablature, as well as in various decorative details and proportions.

At the same time, the layout of the building space was the same for all order systems. Both the Doric and Ionic orders were used in the construction of not only religious, but also secular buildings, as well as places of public visitation.

Each building is a single whole, created from individual architectural elements, among which are the following:

• Crepida- this is the foot of any building, a kind of foundation of the structure.
• Walls
• Columns various orders
• Entablature
• Roof
• Triangular pediment

Ancient Greek architecture used a system of columns and entablatures, or, as it is also called, a post-beam system. The best examples of buildings were temples, which were initially built from, and later from natural stone.

Doric order

The Doric order is the most massive of all, but at the same time it is distinguished by the simplicity of decorative details and the severity of finishing elements. The Doric order was formed in the 6th century BC. A striking example can be considered Temple of Hera at Olympia.

The dimensions of the individual parts of the structure and their proportional relationship are related to the length of the radius of the column at its base. This radius is called the module, and on its basis all subsequent proportions are calculated.

Later, with the development of construction technology, the columns became thinner, more elegant and taller. Accordingly, the distance between them increased, and the height of the entablature decreased.

A Doric temple was usually built on a three-stage high base. The steps of the crepida were not intended for people to climb. It was one of the characteristic elements of ancient Greek architecture. The height of the base steps was determined based on the overall proportions of the structure.

Columns without a base were installed on a three-stage base. They consisted of a three-part capital (hypotrachelia, echinus, abacus) and a fluted trunk, which had a slight thickening - entachis. The height of the column trunk was approximately 11 modules, that is, it was 11 times longer than the radius of the column at the base.

The entablature of the Doric order was also tripartite. The columns contained an architrave with a frieze, which consisted of triglyphs and metopes. It also supported a slightly projecting cornice. The roof was gable with a slight slope. The triangular pediment was usually decorated with sculptures.

For the compositional completeness of the Doric temple, the color of the structure was of great importance, which further emphasized its structural features.

The most famous surviving example of Doric buildings is Temple of Poseidon in Paestum in southern Italy and Temple of Hephaestus in Athens.

In terms of its architectural merits, the most significant structure is considered to be on the Acropolis of Athens.

Ionic order

The buildings of the Ionic order are characterized by greater lightness and grace. This is especially noticeable in comparison with the massive elements of the Doric order.

The Ionic temples of the early period were larger and more luxuriously decorated than the ponderous and austere Doric temples.

But the main distinguishing feature can be considered the appearance of the columns: they are much slimmer and thinner. In addition, they have a base, trunk and capital. The most luxurious form is characterized by a capital with volutes.

In this case, the columns are not connected by rhythmic elements, as in the Doric order. Instead of a frieze, the Ionic entablature was trimmed with a belt decorated with bas-relief. All details of the Ionic order had a complex profile.

The Ionic order reaches its greatest flowering in Asia Minor, where examples of structures are of considerable size. A striking example is Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, which reached a length of 126 meters and had columns 18 meters high.

In Greece itself, buildings of the Ionic order are represented by small, elegant buildings. Among the surviving samples we can name Temple of Niki-Apteros and in the ensemble of the Acropolis in Athens.

Corinthian order

The Corinthian order developed on the basis of the Ionic order and was finally formed only in Roman architecture. The main difference between the Corinthian order and the Ionic order was the presence of a capital with four sides decorated with a sculptural image of acanthus leaves.

Among the most significant examples of the Corinthian order in Greece is the capital Monument to Lysicrates in Athens. Another example of the use of the Corinthian order is the unfinished Athens Olympion.

Construction equipment

In the architecture of ancient Greece, the main building material was natural stone of various types. Thus, in the early period, soft limestone was used, which was easy to process. Limestone was used during construction in the 6th century BC. But in the ensemble of the New Acropolis, built by Pericles, there are already structures made of Pentelic marble.

It should be emphasized that, first of all, temples and public buildings were erected from stone. But residential buildings were usually built of brick - raw or baked brick.

In the process of laying walls of public buildings, it was also sometimes used, but later the outer side was lined with stone slabs.

Wood was usually used to construct roofs and ceilings. In the early period, temple columns were also made of wood. This could be observed in the example of the Temple of Hera at Olympia, where wooden columns were subsequently replaced by stone ones.

The stonework was done using a dry method without the use of mortar. In this case, spikes or wooden dowels were used to strengthen the structure. The structure had to withstand tremors in the event of an earthquake, so the stone blocks were fastened together using many metal clamps.

The process of installing complex architectural elements was very labor-intensive. Some parts were made immediately solid - for example, capitals and slabs with sculptural elements. The remaining parts were processed only after they were installed. In this case, the final processing was carried out in the direction from top to bottom as the height of the construction scaffolding decreased.

However, from the point of view of professional architects, ancient Greek architecture, striking with the nobility and perfection of its forms, was very simple in its design. This system consisted of load-bearing elements of the building (walls and columns) that supported the load and supporting parts - beams, slabs and lintels.

The architecture of Ancient Greece is the architecture that was created by people who spoke the Greek language (Greek group of dialects), their culture flourished in the mainland of Greece and the Peloponnese, the islands of the Aegean Sea and in the colonies in Asia Minor and Italy during the period from ca. 900 BC to the 1st century AD, the earliest surviving architectural works date from around 600 BC. e.

Ancient Greek architecture is best known for its temples, many of which are located throughout the region, mostly in ruins, but many survive virtually intact. Another famous type of building surviving from the Hellenic world is the open-air theater, the oldest of which were created around 350 BC. e. Other surviving architectural forms include a monumental arch (propylon), a market square and public meeting place (agora), which was surrounded by a multi-tiered colonnade (stoa), a city council building (bouleuterion), a public monument, a monumental tomb (mausoleum) and a stadium.

Ancient Greek architecture is distinguished by its highly formalized characteristics in relation to both structure and decoration.

This is especially true of temples, where each building seems to have been conceived as a sculptural unit within a landscape, most often built on elevated ground so that the elegance of their proportions and the light effects on the surface can be seen from all angles. Nikolaus Pevsner speaks of "the plastic form of the [Greek] temple... which appears to us in a physical presence more impressive, more living, than that of any other later building."

The formal vocabulary of ancient Greek architecture, in particular, divides architectural style into three specific orders (types of architectural composition): the Doric order, the Ionic order, and the Corinthian order - these had a profound influence on Western architecture of later eras. The architecture of Ancient Rome grew out of the architecture of Greece and retained its influence in Italy until the present day.

Since the Renaissance, all periods of classical revival have kept alive not only the precise forms and orderly details of Greek architecture, but also its concept of architectural beauty based on balance and proportion. Later styles of neoclassical architecture and classical Greek revivals in architecture borrowed heavily from ancient Greek styles.

Factors of influence

Geography

The mainland and islands of Greece are characterized by rocky terrain with deeply indented coastlines and rocky mountain ranges with a few forested areas. The most accessible building material here is stone. Limestone was readily available and easy to work. High quality white marble was also available in abundance, both on the mainland and on the islands, particularly Paros and Naxos. This fine-grained material was one of the main factors contributing to the precision of detail, both architectural and sculptural, that adorned ancient Greek architecture. Deposits of high-quality pottery clay were located throughout mainland and island territory of Greece, with large deposits located in the Athens region. Clay was used to make not only ceramic vessels, but also tiles and architectural decorations.

The climate in Greece is maritime with cold winters and hot summers, tempered by sea breezes. As a result, the locals' lifestyle involves many outdoor activities. Therefore, temples were placed on hilltops, their exteriors designed as a visual focal point for gatherings and processions, and theaters were often built not as enclosed structures, but by reclaiming a naturally sloping area for people to sit. Colonnades surrounding buildings or courtyards provided shelter from the sun and sudden winter storms.

Light in Greece was perhaps another important factor influencing the development of the special character of ancient Greek architecture. The light here is often very bright, and the sky and sea are bright blue. Clear light and sharp shadows give precision to the details of the landscape, pale rocky outcroppings and the sea coast. This clarity alternates with periods of light fog, which changes color when light hits it. In this characteristic environment, ancient Greek architects created buildings that were noted for their precision of detail. The sparkling marble surfaces were smooth, curved, grooved or shaped to reflect the sun, cast graduated shadows and change color in the ever-changing light of day.

Rocky, rugged coastline at Rhamnous, Attica, photo: SkiDragon,

Theater and Temple of Apollo in the mountainous area of ​​Delphi, photo: Adam Carr,

Story

Historians divide the period of ancient Greek civilization into two eras: the classical Greek period (from about 900 BC to the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC) and the Hellenistic period (from 323 BC to 30 AD). During the earlier (Greek) period, important works of architecture began to appear (around 600 BC). During the later (Hellenistic) period, Greek culture became widespread, initially as a result of Alexander's conquest of other lands, and later as a result of the rise of the Roman Empire, which borrowed much of Greek culture.

Before the start of the Classical Greek period, the region was dominated by two main cultures: Minoan (c. 2800 - 1100 BC) and Mycenaean (c. 1500 - 1100 BC). Modern historians call the Minoan culture of the people of ancient Crete, known for their elaborate and richly decorated palaces and pottery, which was decorated with floral and marine designs.

The Mycenaean culture that flourished in the Peloponnese had a completely different character. Its members built citadels, fortress walls and tombs rather than palaces, and decorated their pottery with bands of marching soldiers rather than octopuses and seaweed. The decline of these civilizations occurred around 1100 BC. - on Crete, possibly due to volcanic destruction, and Mycenae came to an end due to the invasion of the Dorians, who lived on mainland Greece. After these events came a period from which few cultural features have survived. This is why it is often called the "Dark Age".

The cities founded by the Dorians were initially ruled by an aristocracy and then by "tyrants", leaders who emerged from the merchant or warrior classes. Some cities, such as Sparta, maintained a strictly regulated and conservative order similar to Mycenaean. The culture of Athens, on the other hand, came under the influence of the Ionians from Asia Minor. In the cultural diversity resulting from this influx, Athenian culture created the art of logic, and with it the idea of ​​democracy.

Art

The history of art of the Greek era is generally divided into four periods: protogeometric (1100 - 900 BC), geometric (900 - 700 BC), archaic (700 - 500 BC). ) and classical (500 - 323 BC), sculpture, in turn, is divided into strict classical, high classical and late classical.

The first signs of the specific artistic features that define ancient Greek architecture are seen in the pottery of the Dorian Greeks who lived in the 10th century BC. Already during this period it was created with a sense of proportion, symmetry and balance, not characteristic of similar ceramics from Crete and Mycenae. The decorations are meticulously geometric, neatly zoned on specific areas of each vessel.

These features appeared not only in the thousand-year period of Greek pottery, but also in the architecture that emerged in the 6th century. The main development was the increasing use of the human figure as the main decorative motif and the greater confidence with which humanity, its mythology, activities and passions were depicted.

Progress in depicting the shape of the human body in ceramics was accompanied by similar progress in sculpture. The tiny stylized bronzes of the Geometric period gave way to highly formalized life-size monolithic images in the Archaic period. The Classical period saw the rapid development of idealized but increasingly realistic depictions of gods in human form.

This development had a direct impact on temple sculptural decoration, as many of the greatest surviving works of ancient Greek sculpture once adorned temples, which once housed many of the largest known statues of the period, such as the lost gold and ivory statues of Zeus in the Temple Zeus at Olympia and the statue of Athena at the Parthenon, Athens, both over 40 feet (c. 12 m) high.

A black-figure Amphora by the artist Atalanta (500-490 BC) demonstrates the proportions and style that characterize ancient Greek art, photo: MatthiasKabel,

Boy Kritios (ca. 480 BC), symbolizes the tradition of free-standing figures, photo: Tetraktys,

Religion and philosophy

Modern model of ancient Olympia with the Temple of Zeus in the center, photo: Steve Swayne,

The religion of Ancient Greece was a form of nature worship that grew out of the beliefs of early cultures. However, unlike earlier cultures, it was believed that nature no longer poses a threat to man, and man is its perfect creation. The natural elements were personified as gods in very human form with very human behavior.

Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece, was considered the home of the gods. The most important deities were: Zeus, the supreme god and lord of the sky, Hera, his wife and goddess of marriage, Athena, goddess of wisdom, Poseidon, god of the sea, Demeter, goddess of the earth, Apollo, god of the sun, law, reason, music and poetry, Artemis , goddess of the moon, hunting and game, Aphrodite, goddess of love, Ares, god of war, Hermes, god of trade and medicine, Hephaestus, god of fire and metalwork, and Dionysus, god of wine and fruit-bearing plants.

The worship of the gods, like many other activities, took place in the open air with the participation of the entire community. However, by 600 B.C. the gods were often depicted as large statues, and it was necessary to create a building in which each of them could be housed. This led to the development of temple construction.

The ancient Greeks sensed order in the universe and, in turn, applied order and prudence to the creation of their creations. Their humanistic philosophy placed humanity at the center of things and supported carefully ordered social systems and the development of democracy. At the same time, respect for human intelligence required reason and encouraged the pursuit of scientific research, logic, and problem solving. The architecture of the ancient Greeks, and temple architecture in particular, responded to these challenges with a passion for beauty, order and symmetry, which was the product of a constant search for perfection rather than simply the application of a set of practical rules.

Distinctive features of ancient Greek architecture

Early stage of development

There is a clear division between the architecture of the Mycenaean and Minoan cultures and the later architecture of the ancient Greeks, the working methods and understanding of the style of these civilizations being lost along with their disappearance.

Mycenaean art is notable for its ring structures and conical domes with horizontally layered cantilevered masonry. This architectural form did not carry over into the architecture of Ancient Greece, but it reappeared around 400 BC. in the interior of large monumental tombs such as the Tomb of the Lionesses at Knidos (c. 350 BC). Little is known about Mycenaean wooden or residential architecture and about any ongoing traditions that may have appeared in the early buildings of the Dorians.

Minoan architecture on Crete was characterized by designs with entablatures similar to those of ancient Greece. Wooden columns with capitals were used here, but these columns differed significantly in shape from the Doric ones, they were narrow at the base and flared upward in a conical shape. Early column forms in Greece appear to have developed independently. Like Minoan architecture, ancient Greek residential architecture focused on open spaces or courtyards surrounded by colonnades. This form was adapted for the construction of hypostyle halls inside large temples. The evolution that occurred in architecture led to the construction of public buildings, primarily the temple, but not to the large-scale residential architecture that took shape in Crete.

Types of buildings in Ancient Greece

Residential buildings

Plan of the Chamber of Collin, 2nd century BC.

House of Masks, Delos, 3rd century BC, photo: Bernard Gagnon,

Mosaic floor of a house in Delos, photo: David Eppstein,

The Greek word for family or household, Oikos, is also the name for house. There were several different types of houses. It is likely that many of the early houses were simple two-room structures with an open veranda or "pronaos" above which was a sloping gable or cornice. This form is believed to have contributed to temple architecture.

Many houses were constructed with walls made of sun-baked clay bricks or a timber frame filled with fibrous material such as straw or seaweed and covered with clay or plaster, the house resting on a foundation of stone that protected the more vulnerable elements from damp. The roofs were probably thatched and had eaves overhanging the leaky walls. Many large houses, for example on Delos, were built of stone and plastered. The roofing material for reputable houses was tiles. In the houses of rich people, the floors were mosaic, they clearly demonstrated the classical style.

The center of many houses was a wide passage or "pasta" that ran the length of the house and opened on one side into a small courtyard filled with light and air. In larger houses there was a full peristyle courtyard in the center, and the rooms were located around it. Some houses had an upper floor, which is believed to have been reserved for use by the women of the family.

City houses were built with adjacent walls, they were divided into small blocks by narrow streets. Stores were sometimes located in rooms facing the street. City houses were inward-facing, with large openings facing a central courtyard rather than the street.

Public buildings

Reconstructed Stoa of Attalus, Agora, Athens, photo:A.Savin,

The rectangular temple is the most common and best known form of Greek public architecture. The temple did not serve the same function as a modern church, since the altar stood in the open air on a temenos (a piece of land around the temple) or sacred area, often located immediately in front of the temple. Temples served as the location of a cult image, as well as a warehouse or storeroom for the treasury associated with the cult of the respective god, as well as a place where worshipers of that god could bring their gifts, such as statues, helmets and weapons.

Some Greek temples have been shown to have been built with astronomical data in mind. The temple was generally part of a religious site known as the acropolis. According to Aristotle, “the site should be a place visible from all sides, giving good height for virtue and towers over the surrounding area.” Small round temples - tholos - were also built, as well as small buildings similar to temples that served to store the treasury of specific groups of donors (philanthropists).

In the late 5th and 4th centuries BC, town planning became an important issue for Greek builders in the construction of cities such as Paestum and Priene, which created a regular network of cobbled streets, as well as agoras or central market squares surrounded by a colonnade or stoa. The fully restored Stoa of Attalus can be seen today in Athens. Cities also had public fountains from which water could be drawn for home use. The development of a regular urban layout is associated with the name of Hippodamus of Miletus, a student of Pythagoras.

Public buildings became "dignified and pleasing structures" and were located to be architecturally related to each other. The propylon or porch formed the entrance to temple sanctuaries and other significant places, the best preserved example being the Propylaea at the entrance to the Athenian Acropolis. The bouvleterion was a large public building with a hypostyle hall that served as a courtroom and meeting place for the city council ("boule"). The remains of the bouvleterion were preserved in Athens, Olympia and Miletus, the latter could house up to 1,200 people.

Every Greek city had an open-air theater. It was used for both public meetings and dramatic performances. The theater was usually located on a hillside outside the city and had rows of tiered seating arranged in a semi-circle around a central performance area or "orchestra". Behind the orchestra was a low building called a skena, which served as a storeroom or dressing room, and also acted as a backdrop to the action taking place in the orchestra. Several Greek theaters remain almost intact, the most famous of which is located at Epidaurus, designed by the architect Polykleitos the Younger.

Larger Greek cities also housed palaestra or gymnasiums, social centers for male citizens that included spectator areas, baths, toilets, and club rooms. Other buildings associated with sports include racetracks, of which only remains remain, and racing stadiums, which were 600 feet long (ca. 183 m), examples of which exist at Olympia, Delphi, Epidaurus and Ephesus, in while the 45,000-seat Panathinaikos Stadium in Athens was restored in the 19th century and was used for the 1896, 1906 and 2004 Olympic Games.

Palaestra at Olympia, used for boxing and wrestling, photo: Wknight94,

Theater of Dionysus in Athens, photo: sailko,

Stone mosaic floor of a house in Olynthos depicting Bellerophon, photo: Christaras A,

Altar of Hiero II in Syracuse, photo: sailko,

Structure of architectural elements

Column and architrave

1. Tympanum 2. Acrotery 3. Sima 4. Cornice 5. Mutula 7. Frieze 8. Triglyph 9. Metope 10. Regula 11. Gutta 12. Tenia 13. Architrave 14. Capital 15. Abacus 16. Echinus 17. Column 18. Flute 19. Stylobate

The architecture of Ancient Greece is characterized by a post-and-beam form, that is, the building consists of vertical architrave beams (pillars) supporting horizontal beams (architraves). Although the surviving buildings from this era are built in stone, it is clear that the origins of the style are based on simple wooden structures with vertical posts supporting the beams that supported the ribbed roof.

Posts and beams divided the walls into regular compartments, which could be left as openings or filled with sun-dried bricks, shards or straw and covered with clay plaster or plaster. On the other hand, the spaces could have been filled with rubble. It is likely that many early houses and temples were built with an open veranda or "pronaos", above which was a sloping pediment or cornice.

The earliest temples built to house statues of the gods were probably wooden, later replaced by more durable stone temples, many of which survive to this day. Signs of the original character of wooden architecture are preserved in the stone buildings.

Few of these temples are large in size, some, such as the Temple of Olympian Zeus and the Olympion in Athens reaching over 300 feet (c. 91 m) in length, but most were less than half that size. It appears that some of the larger temples were originally made of wood, with columns replaced piecemeal as stone became available. So, at least, says the historian Pausanias, citing the example of the Temple of Hera in Olympia in the 2nd century AD.

Stone columns were made from several solid stone cylinders or "drums" resting on each other without mortar, but sometimes a bronze axle was installed in the center of the column. The column is wider at the base than at the top, tapering along an outer curve known as the entasis. Each column has a capital, consisting of two parts: the upper part, on which the beams are supported, is square, it is called the “abacus”. The part of the capital that rises from the column itself is called “echin”. Echinae differ from each other depending on the order, being smooth in the Doric order, fluted in the Ionic order and decorated with foliate designs in the Corinthian order. Doric and usually Ionic capitals are cut with vertical grooves known as "flutes". This grooved or grooved design of the columns is a surviving element of the original timber architecture.

Entablature and pediment

The columns of the temple support a structure that rises upward and is divided into two main parts: the entablature and the pediment.

An entablature is the main horizontal structural element that supports the roof and surrounds the entire building. It consists of three parts. The columns are supported by an architrave made of several stone "beams" spanning the space between the columns, meeting each other at the junction directly above the center of each column.

Above the architrave there is a second horizontal part called the frieze. The frieze is one of the main decorative elements of the building; a sculptural relief is applied to it. In Ionic and Corinthian architecture the decoration of the frieze is in a continuous band, but in the Doric order it is divided into sections called "metopes", these filling the space between vertical rectangular blocks called "triglyphs". The triglyphs also have vertical fluting, like the Doric columns; the triglyphs retain the shape of the wooden beams that once supported the roof.

The uppermost part of the entablature is called the "cornice" and is usually richly decorated along the lower edge. The cornice retains the shape of the beams that once supported the wooden roof at each end of the building. At the front and back of each temple, an entablature supports a triangular structure called a pediment. The triangular space, framed by cornices, is where the most significant elements of sculptural decoration are located on the exterior of the building.

Masonry

At the base of each temple there was a stone base called “crepidoma”; as a rule, it consisted of three steps, the top of which was called “stylobate”, and columns rested on it. Stone walls during the construction of temples began to be erected around 600 BC. Masonry of all kinds, including rubble, was used to construct ancient Greek buildings, but the best ashlar masonry was usually used for temple walls, built in regular patterns and large sizes to minimize joints. The blocks were roughly hewn, dragged from the quarries in order to be cut and laid very precisely; mortar was almost never used. Blocks, especially those used for columns and load-bearing parts of a building, were sometimes fixed in place or reinforced with iron brackets or rods of wood, bronze, or iron fixed in lead to minimize corrosion.

Openings

Beams were placed on top of the door and window openings, which in a stone building limited the possible width of the opening. The distance between the columns also depended on the nature of the beam, the columns on the exterior of the buildings and the load-bearing stone beams, which were closer together than the interior ones, and on which the wooden beams were located. Door and window openings narrowed upward. Temples were built without windows, and light entered the naos through the door. It has been suggested that some temples were illuminated through holes in the roof. Many of the features of the Ionic door at the Erechtheion (17 feet (c. 5 m) high and 7.5 feet (c. 2.2 m) wide at the top) remain intact, including the moldings and entablature that is supported cantilever brackets.

Temple of Hephaestus, fluted Doric columns with abaci supporting double architrave beams, photo: Jean Housen,

Erechtheion: masonry, doors, stone architraves, coffered ceiling panels

In the Temple of Aphaia, hypostyle columns rise in two tiers to a height greater than the walls to support the roof without support posts, photo: Dorieo21, public domain

Roof

The widest span of the temple roof was that of the cella or interior space. In a large building, this space contains columns that support the roof, an architectural form known as a hypostyle hall. Apparently, even though the architecture of Ancient Greece was originally made of wood, the early builders had no idea of ​​a diagonal truss as a stabilizing element. This is evidenced by the nature of temple construction in the 6th century BC, where the rows of columns supporting the roof of the cella rise higher than the outer walls, which is not necessary if trusses are used as part of the wooden roof. The peculiarity is that initially all trusses were supported directly by the entablature, walls and hypostyle, and not by a trussed wooden frame, which began to be used in Greek architecture only in the 3rd century BC.

Ancient Greek buildings made of wood, clay and plaster were probably thatched. With the advent of stone architecture, fired ceramic tiles appeared. The tiles of these early tiles were S-shaped in cross section, with the ridge and roof tiles forming one piece. They were much larger in size than modern roof tiles: up to 90 cm (35.43 in) long, 70 cm (27.56 in) wide, 3–4 cm (1.18–1.57 in) in thick and weighing about 30 kg (66 lb) each. Only stone walls, which gradually replaced earlier walls of adobe and wood, were strong enough to support the weight of a roof made of such tiles.

The earliest finds of tiles from the Archaic period in Greece are recorded in a very limited area around Corinth, where fired tiles began to replace thatched roofs in the temples of Apollo and Poseidon between 700 and 650 BC. Having quickly spread, tiles were used for fifty years in the construction of a wide variety of buildings throughout the Eastern Mediterranean, including mainland Greece, Western Asia Minor, and Southern and Central Italy.

Despite the fact that tiles were more expensive and labor-intensive to produce than straw, their introduction was due to the fact that the fire-resistant properties of tiles provided the necessary protection for valuable temples from fire. It has been suggested that, as a side effect, Greek architecture introduced new stone and tile structures at the ends of overhanging eaves, as a wider roof was needed to keep the rain out of the outdated adobe walls.

Vaults and arches were not widely used, but they began to appear in tombs (in the "beehive" or cantilever form used at Mycenae) and sometimes, as an external feature, in exedra (deep niches) of 5th-century BC wedge-shaped construction. The dome and vault were never such significant design features as they became in ancient Roman architecture.

Temple plans

Up:

1 Two-column temple in anta

2 Four-column temple in anta

4 Prostyle with four columns

5 Amphiprostyle with four columns

At the bottom:

7 Peripterum with six columns

8 Pseudo-peripter with six columns

9 Pseudo-peripter with two rows of columns

Most ancient Greek temples were rectangular and were about twice as long as they were wide, with a few exceptions such as the huge Temple of Olympian Zeus in Athens, which was almost 2.5 times as long as it was wide. The few surviving temple-like structures were round and are called tholos. The smallest temples were less than 25 m (about 75 feet) in length, and if we talk about round tholos - in diameter. The vast majority of temples were 30-60 meters (about 100-200 feet) long. A small group of Doric temples, including the Parthenon, were 60 to 80 meters (approx. 200 to 260 feet) long. The largest temples, mostly Ionic and Corinthian, but including the Doric Temple of Olympian Zeus in Agrigento, were between 90 and 120 meters long (approx. 300 to 390 feet).

The temple rises from a stepped base or "stylobate" that raises the building above the ground on which it stands. Early temples, such as the Temple of Zeus at Olympus, had two steps, but most, such as the Parthenon, have three, with the exception of the Temple of Apollo at Didyma, which has six steps. The basis of the building is a “naos” made of stone masonry, inside of which there is a cella - a windowless room in which the statue of the god was originally located. In front of the cella there is usually a porch or "pronaos", and perhaps a second room or "antenaos", serving as a treasury or storage for trophies and gifts. These rooms were illuminated through one large doorway equipped with a wrought iron grille. Some rooms appeared to be illuminated through skylights.

On the stylobate, often completely surrounding the naos, there are rows of columns. Each temple is assigned to a certain type according to two conditions: one of them describes the number of columns at the front entrance, and the second characterizes their distribution.

Examples

The double-columned anta temple is a small temple with two columns in front set between the projecting walls of a pronaos or porch, an example is the Temple of Nemesis at Rhamnus. (see Fig. 1)

The four-column amphiprostyle is a small temple in which the columns are located at both ends, the columns standing away from the naos. There are four columns, like the Temple of Ilissos in Athens. (Fig. 4)

A six-column peripterus is a temple with one row of peripheral columns around a naos, with six columns at the front, such as the Theseeion in Athens. (Fig. 7)

A peripterus with two rows of columns is a temple with one row of columns around a naos (Fig. 7) with eight columns in front, for example, the Parthenon, Athens. (Fig. 6 and 9).

Dipter decastyl is, for example, a huge temple of Apollo at Didyma, with a naos surrounded by two rows of columns (Fig. 6.) and ten columns in front.

The Temple of Olympian Zeus at Agrigentum is of the seven-column pseudoperipterus type (heptastyle) because the surrounding colonnade has pseudocolumns attached to the walls of the naos (Fig. 8). The name heptastyle means that it has seven columns at the front entrance.

Proportions and optical illusion

The perfection of proportions used by ancient Greek architects when designing temples was not a simple mathematical progression using a square module. Mathematics assumed a more complex geometric progression, the so-called golden ratio. This relationship is similar to the developmental patterns of many spiral forms that occur in nature, such as the structure of ram's horn, nautilus shell, fern leaves and tendrils, and were the source of decorative motifs used by ancient Greek architects, especially prominent in the volute capitals of the Ionic and Corinthian orders.

Ancient Greek architects took a philosophical approach to rules and proportions. The determining factor in the mathematics of any important work of architecture was its final appearance. The architects counted on perspective, on optical illusions that made the edges of objects appear concave, and on the fact that columns seen against the sky differed from adjacent columns behind which there was a shadowed wall.

Because of these factors, architects adjusted their designs so that the main lines of any important building were rarely straight. The most obvious was the adjustment of the column profiles, tapering from the base to the top. However, this narrowing is not constant, the profile curves smoothly so that each column appears to have a widening below the middle, called entasis. Entasis was never sufficiently pronounced for the expansion to be wider than the base; it is regulated by a slight narrowing through a decrease in diameter.

All the main lines of the Parthenon are curved, 2014, © site

Diagram of the optical adjustments made by the architects of the Parthenon, photo: Napoleon Vier,

Sectional nautilus shell. These shells may have been the inspiration for the Ionic volute capitals, photo: Chris 73,

The growth of the nautilus follows the golden ratio, photo: Luiz Real, public domain

The Parthenon, the temple of the goddess Athena on the Acropolis in Athens, is the embodiment of what Nikolaus Pevsner called "the most beautiful example of architecture finding its completion in material beauty." Helen Gardner calls it "unmatched excellence" which later architects should explore, study and emulate. However, as Gardner notes, there is hardly a single straight line in this building. Banister Fletcher calculates that the stylobate curves upward in such a way that its centers at both ends are raised about 2.6 inches (6.6 cm) above the outer corners and 4.3 inches (10.92 cm) on the longer sides. Slightly more adjustments were made to the entablature. The columns at the ends of the building are not vertical, but lean toward the center; the columns at the corners are off-vertical by approximately 2.6 inches (6.6 cm). These outer columns are also slightly wider than the adjacent ones, and they are placed slightly closer together than any of the others.

Style

Orders of ancient Greek architecture

Architectural elements of the Doric order showing simple curved echinoid capitals (Parthenon, Athens), photo: © site, 2014.

Orders

Stylistically, ancient Greek architecture was divided into three "orders": the Doric order, the Ionic order and the Corinthian order, their names reflecting their place of origin. While these three orders are most easily recognized by their capitals, the orders also determined the shapes, proportions, details and relative positions of the columns, entablature, pediment and stylobate. Various orders were used in the construction of the entire complex of buildings and monuments.

The Doric order appeared in mainland Greece and Italy. It was established and its characteristics were defined at the time of the construction of the Temple of Hera at Olympia ca. in 600 BC The Ionic order coexisted with the Doric; it was preferred in the Greek cities of Ionia, Asia Minor and the islands of the Aegean Sea. It was not clearly formed until the middle of the 5th century BC. e. The early Ionic temples of Asia Minor were particularly grandiose in scale, such as the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus. The Corinthian order was highly decorative and did not develop until the Hellenistic period, but retained many of the characteristics of the Ionic order. It was popularized by the Romans.

Doric order

The Doric order is characterized by its capitals, the echinus of which looks like a round cushion rising from the top of the column to a square abacus on which the architrave is located. Echinus appears flat and widened in early examples, while in later and more refined examples it became deeper and more curved, and in Hellenistic versions it was smaller and straight-sided. The secret of the grace of the Doric column is the entasis - a small convex thickening in the profile of the column, which prevents the optical illusion of concavity.

Doric columns are almost always cut with grooves known as "flutes" that run the entire length of the column, usually 20 of them, although sometimes fewer. These flutes are connected to each other at sharp edges called arris (an acute angle when two surfaces join). At the top of the column, slightly below the narrowest point, crossing the matching edges, are three horizontal grooves known as "hypotrachelia". Doric columns have no bases, except for a few examples from the Hellenistic period.

The columns of an early Doric temple, such as the Temple of Apollo at Syracuse, Sicily, may have a height to base diameter ratio of only 4:1 and a column height to entablature ratio of 2:1, with rather crude detail. A column height to diameter ratio of 6:1 became more common, while the ratio of column height to entablature on the Parthenon is approximately 3:1. During the Hellenistic period, Doric norms of solidity and masculinity gradually lost force, and thin columns without flutes had a height to diameter ratio of 7.5:1.

Doric order

Temple of Hephaestus, Athens is a well-preserved temple, example of a peripterus with six columns, photo: 2014, © site

Entablature showing a Doric architrave, frieze with triglyphs and metopes and overhanging cornice, photo: Jeanhousen,

Beveled fluted columns consisting of “drums” installed directly on the stylobate, photo: Jean House,

The Doric entablature consists of three parts: the architrave, frieze and cornice. The architrave consists of stone beams spanning the space between the columns, their alignment occurs above the center of each abacus. On it lies a frieze - one of the main areas for sculptural decoration. The frieze is divided into triglyphs and metopes, the triglyphs, as stated elsewhere in this article, being a reminder of the arboreal origins of this architectural style. Each triglyph has three vertical grooves, similar to the flutes of columns, and below them, seemingly connected to them, are small bands that are needed to connect the triglyph to the architrave below. The triglyph is located above the center of each column and above the center of each beam. However, in the corners of the building the triglyphs do not fall on the center of the column. Ancient architects took a pragmatic approach to obvious "rules" by simply increasing the width of the last two metopes at each end of the building.

The cornice is a narrow, projecting group of complex profiles that hang down and protect a decorated frieze, like the edge of an overhanging wooden roof. On the lower part, the cornice is decorated with protruding blocks - mutulas, which also confirms the wooden nature of its prototype. At both ends of the building, a pediment rises from the cornice, framed by similarly shaped stucco.

The pediment is decorated with figures that were convex in early examples, but by the time of the Parthenon's construction had become almost free-standing. Early architectural sculptors had difficulty creating satisfactory sculptural compositions in a tapering triangular space. By the early classical period, when decorating the temple of Zeus at Olympia (486 - 460 BC), sculptors solved this problem by surrounding the central standing figure with rearing centaurs and warriors who fall, kneel and lie in those positions , which correspond to the size and angle of each part of the space. The famous sculptor Phidias fills the space on the Parthenon (448 - 432 BC) with a whole complex of clothed and naked figures of deities, which are shown in poses of majestic relaxation and elegance.

Ionic order

The Ionic order is recognizable by its capitals with volutes, on which curved echinae are similar in shape to those of the Doric order, but they are decorated with stylized ornament, surmounted by a horizontal stripe that twists on both sides and forms spirals or volutes, similar to the spirals of a nautilus or a ram's horn . In plan, the capital has a rectangular shape. It is designed to be viewed from the front, but the capitals at the corners of the building are supplemented with additional scrollwork to appear regular on two adjacent faces. During the Hellenistic period, Ionic capitals with volutes in four planes became widespread.

Erechtheion, Acropolis, Athens: building of asymmetrical plan, to display offerings to Athena, photo: Yair Haklai,

Corner capital with diagonal volute, also showing fluted details separated by grooves, Eusebius (Guillaume Piolle),

A frieze with a stylized pattern of alternating palms and reeds and a cornice decorated with "eggs and arrows" stucco., Eusebius (Guillaume Piolle),

Like the Doric, the Ionic order retains signs that it originates in wooden architecture. The horizontal extension of a flat plate of wood at the top of a column is a common device for wood construction, creating on a thin vertical column a large area on which to rest the architrave, while at the same time increasing the strength of the load-bearing capacity of the architrave itself. In addition, columns always have bases, which are a necessity in timber architecture to distribute the load and protect the base of a relatively thin column. The columns are cut with narrow, small flutes that do not connect to each other on sharp edges; there is a flat strip or ribbon between them. The usual number of flutes is twenty-four, but can be up to forty-four. On the base there are two convex elements called tori, and from the end of the Hellenistic period the bases stand on a square plinth similar to the abacus.

The architrave of the Ionic order is sometimes unfinished, but more often it is raised on three steps, similar to ceilings made of wooden planks. The frieze, which runs in a continuous stripe, is separated from other parts by rows of small protruding blocks. They are called "denticles", which means "teeth", but they clearly come from narrow wooden slats that supported the roof of a timber structure. The Ionic order is generally lighter in appearance than the Doric, its columns, including base and capital, have a height to diameter ratio of 9:1, while the entire entablature is already significantly less heavy than the Doric.

There have also been some changes in the distribution of decorations. Formalized bands of motifs, such as alternating shapes known as "eggs and arrows", were a feature of Ionic entablatures, along with bands of denticles. The outer frieze often contained a continuous band of pictorial sculptures or ornaments, but this was not always the case. Sometimes a decorative frieze was created near the top of the naos rather than on the outside of the building. These friezes around a naos in the Ionic style are sometimes found in Doric buildings, particularly the Parthenon. Some temples, such as the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, had friezes of figures around the lower drum of each column, separated from the fluted part by a thick, raised strip.

The high capital combines semi-naturalistic leaves and highly stylized tendrils forming volutes , photo: © site, 2014.

The Corinthian order was based on wooden architecture. It arose directly from the Ionic in the mid-5th century BC. and was originally almost the same in style and proportions as the Ionic, but distinguished by its richer capitals. The capital of the Corinthian order was much deeper than the Doric or Ionic, its shape resembled a large crater or bell-shaped bowl, it was decorated with two rows of acanthus leaves, above which were located the curls of a volute supporting the corners of the abacus, which was no longer quite square and widened above them .

According to Vitruvius, such a capital was invented by the bronze smelter Callimachus of Corinth, who was inspired by an offering basket placed on a tomb, with a flat tile on top to protect the gifts. The basket stood on an acanthus plant that wove itself around it. The ratio of column height to diameter is usually 10:1, the capital occupies more than 1/10 of the height. The ratio of the height of the capital to its diameter is usually about 1.16:1.

The Corinthian order originally arose indoors, for example, in the temple of Apollo Epicurean at Bassae (ca. 450 - 425 BC). In 334 BC. it appeared as an external feature on the choregic monument of Lysicrates in Athens, and then on a huge scale in the Temple of Zeus Olympia in Athens (174 BC - 132 AD). It was popularized by the Romans, who added a number of improvements and decorative details to it. During the Hellenistic period, Corinthian columns were sometimes built without flutes.

Decorations

Architectural ornament

Architectural ornament made of fired and painted clay

An antefix in the form of the head of an archaic Gorgon was cast in a mold, fired and painted, photo: Shakko,

A gargoyle in the shape of a lion's head is attached to the facing, on which elements of the external frieze are painted, photo: Millevache,

Early wooden structures, particularly temples, were decorated and partially protected by facings of fired and painted clay in the form of rectangular panels and decorative discs. Many fragments of this cladding survive the buildings they decorated, showing a wealth of external ornamentation from geometric scrolls, overlapping patterns and foliate motifs. With the advent of stone temples, facings no longer served a protective purpose, and sculptural decorations became more common.

Clay decorations were limited to the roof of the building, they were applied to the cornices and corners and crowned the pediment. The decorations on the corners of the pediments were called acroteria and on the sides of the building - antefixes. Early decorative elements were generally semi-circular, but later they moved closer to a triangular shape with molded designs, often fingered. Ionic cornices were often created with a series of lion masks with open mouths that served to drain rainwater. In the Late Classic period, acroteria were sometimes sculpted figures.

In the three orders of ancient Greek architecture, sculptural decoration, whether a simple semicircular astragalus, a frieze of stylized leaves, or richly sculpted pediment decoration, is all of great importance to the architecture of which the decoration is a part. In the Doric order there is no variation in its arrangement. Reliefs never decorate walls in an arbitrary way. The sculptures are always located in several predetermined places, on the metope and on the pediment.

In later Ionic architecture there is greater variety in the types and quantities of moldings and decorations, especially around doorways, where brackets with volutes sometimes appear to support a decorative cornice above the door, such as at the Erechtheion. The often used narrow molding of alternating balls and elongated rollers is symmetrical and comes from turned wooden prototypes. Wider types of molding include tongue or pointed leaf molding, which was cut into grooves and sometimes raised upward at the tip, and egg and arrow molding, which alternates oval shapes with narrow and pointed ones.

architectural sculpture

Archaic Gorgon of the western pediment from the Temple of Artemis in Corfu, Archaeological Museum of Corfu, photo: Dr.K.,

Classical fine sculpture from the east pediment of the Parthenon, photo: Solipsist,

Architectural sculpture developed from early archaic examples to strict classical, high classical, late classical and Hellenistic. Traces of archaic architectural sculpture (700 - 500 BC) are found from the early 6th century BC, the earliest surviving examples of pediment sculpture were fragments of a Gorgon flanked by heraldic panthers, from the center pediment of the Temple of Artemis in Corfu. A metope from the temple known as Temple "C" at Selinunte, Sicily, shows a preserved form of Perseus slaying the Gorgon Medusa.

Both images parallel a stylized image of the Gorgon on a black-figure personalized vase decorated by the artist Nessa (c. 600 BC), with the face and shoulders turned frontally and the legs depicted running or kneeling. At that time, images of terrifying monsters took precedence over the attention to human figures that was developed in humanistic philosophy.

The strict Classical style (500 - 450 BC) is represented by the pediment sculptures of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia (470 - 456 BC). The eastern pediment represents the moment of stillness and the "looming drama" before the start of the chariot race, the figures of Zeus and his rivals representing a strict and idealized representation of the human body. The west pediment features Apollo as the central figure, "majestic" and "far away", towering over the battle of the Lapiths and Centaurs in strong contrast to the east pediment due to its depiction of violent action, which Donald Strong described as "the most powerful fragment of illustration" for a hundred years.

The shallow reliefs and three-dimensional sculpture that decorated the friezes and pediments, respectively, of the Parthenon are realistic creations of the high classical style (450 - 400 BC), they were created under the direction of the sculptor Phidias. The pediment sculpture represents the gods of Olympus, and the frieze shows the procession of the Panathenaic procession and the ceremonial events that took place every four years in honor of the titular Goddess of Athens.

The frieze and remaining figures of the east pediment demonstrate a deep understanding of the structure of the human body and how it changes depending on the position of the body and the impact that actions and emotions have on it. Benjamin Robert Haydon describes the reclining figure of Dionysus as "...the most heroic style of art, combined with all the necessary details of real life."

The names of many famous sculptors are known from the late classical period (400 - 323 BC), among them Timotheos, Praxiteles, Leochares and Scopas, but their works are known mainly from Roman copies. Little architectural sculpture from this period remains unchanged. In the Temple of Asclepius in Epidaurus there was a sculpture of Timoteos, created by him together with Theodotos. Fragments of the eastern pediment have been preserved; they depict the sack of Troy. In this scene, the space is filled with figures that are carefully arranged to match the slope and accessible form, as in the earlier example, the east pediment of the Temple of Zeus on Olympus.

But here the figures are in more passionate poses, the central place is occupied not by the main god, but by the dynamic figure of Neoptolemus, grabbing the aged king Priam and striking him. The remaining fragments give the impression of a range of human emotions, fear, horror, cruelty and lust for conquest. The acroteria were decorated with sculptures of Timothy, except for the acroteria in the center of the eastern pediment, which the architects worked on. The fingered acroteria have been replaced here by small figures, the eastern pediment is crowned by the winged goddess Nike, balancing against the wind.

Hellenistic architectural sculpture (323 - 31 BC) became more vibrant in its rendering of both expression and movement, which is often emphasized by flowing robes, a famous example being the Nike of Samothrace, which adorns a ship-shaped monument. On the Pergamon Altar (c. 180-160 BC) there is a frieze (120 meters long and 2.3 meters high) of figures in very high high relief. The frieze depicts the battle for supremacy between the gods and the titans, and it uses many dramatic techniques - madness, pathos and triumph - to convey a sense of conflict.

From: Volkov O., Mikhailova A.,  131487 views (a)