Misplaced Pages

#766233

111-488: Thermos was not a city in the sense of a built-up urban centre like Athens , Argos or Corinth and until a late date the Aetolian League was a loose association with a tribal basis rather than a group of city-states . The ancient name is preserved in the nearby contemporary Greek village of Thermo, Greece . Because of the gradually diminishing significance of the site, this very early temple of Archaic Greece

222-509: A Spartan force to overthrow Hippias, which succeeded, and instated an oligarchy. Cleisthenes disliked the Spartan rule, along with many other Athenians, and so made his own bid for power. The result was democracy in Athens , but considering Cleisthenes' motivation for using the people to gain power, as without their support, he would have been defeated, and so Athenian democracy may be tainted by

333-406: A clear entasis ), is continued by architrave and triglyph frieze, the external walls of the naos also reflect it. Not one block of the building, not a single architrave or frieze element could be hewn as a simple rectilinear block. All architectural elements display slight variations from the right angle, individually calculated for each block. As a side effect, each preserved building block from

444-514: A cult image, especially in cities. This process was certainly under way by the 9th century BC, and probably started earlier. The Mycenaean megaron (15th to the 13th century BC) was the precursor for later Archaic and Classical Greek temples, but during the Greek Dark Age the buildings became smaller and less monumental. The basic principles for the development of Greek temple architecture have their roots between

555-403: A large gorgon head and various mythological subjects, inside vertical borders of rosettes. One of the best preserved shows Procne and Philomela preparing Itys for the dinner table. Their similarity in style to Corinthian painted pottery of around the 630s BC is the main basis for the dating of the temple, though the clay is local, and the potters may also have been. Some are "inscribed in

666-478: A lavishly decorated temple to the goddess Athena , was constructed under the administration of Pericles. Resentment by other cities at the hegemony of Athens led to the Peloponnesian War in 431, which pitted Athens and her increasingly rebellious sea empire against a coalition of land-based states led by Sparta . The conflict marked the end of Athenian command of the sea . The war between Athens and

777-404: A length of 100 feet (30 m). Since it was not technically possible to roof broad spaces at that time, these temples remained very narrow, at 6 to 10 metres in width. To stress the importance of the cult statue and the building holding it, the naos was equipped with a canopy , supported by columns. The resulting set of colonnade surrounding the temple on all sides (the peristasis )

888-457: A mixed alphabet which may well be Aitolian". There are fragments of two sets of antefixes, the second set with heads of men and silenes suggesting that the roof was partly renewed or remodelled in the mid-6th century. Together with the stone metopes of "Temple C" at Selinus in Sicily , of about 550 BC, the metopes of Thermos have been brought into the long-running scholary discussions over

999-574: A narrow passage between them and, furthermore, a wall to Phalerum on the east, 35 stadia long (4 miles, 6.5 km). There were therefore three long walls in all; but the name Long Walls seems to have been confined to the two leading to the Piraeus, while the one leading to Phalerum was called the Phalerian Wall . The entire circuit of the walls was 174.5 stadia (nearly 22 miles, 35 km), of which 43 stadia (5.5 miles, 9 km) belonged to

1110-525: A population of 120,000, though some writers make the inhabitants as many as 180,000. Athens consisted of two distinct parts: The city was surrounded by defensive walls from the Bronze Age and they were rebuilt and extended over the centuries. In addition the Long Walls consisted of two parallel walls leading to Piraeus , 40 stadia long (4.5 miles, 7 km), running parallel to each other, with

1221-479: A sanctuary. Classical Athens The city of Athens ( Ancient Greek : Ἀθῆναι , Athênai [a.tʰɛ̂ː.nai̯] ; Modern Greek : Αθήναι, Athine [a.ˈθi.ne̞] or, more commonly and in singular, Αθήνα, Athina [a.'θi.na]) during the classical period of ancient Greece (480–323 BC) was the major urban centre of the notable polis ( city-state ) of the same name, located in Attica , Greece , leading

SECTION 10

#1732776271767

1332-455: A single row, rarely a double one, of columns. This produces a surrounding colonnade, the pteron , which offered shelter to visitors of the sanctuary and room for cult processions. These components allowed the realisation of a variety of different plan types in Greek temple architecture. The simplest example of a Greek temple is the templum in antis , a small rectangular structure sheltering

1443-556: A slight inclination towards the centre of the building. Curvature and entasis occur from the mid 6th century onwards. The most consistent use of these principles is seen in the Classical Parthenon on the Athenian Acropolis . Its curvature affects all horizontal elements up to the sima , even the naos walls reflect it throughout their height. The inclination of its columns (which also have

1554-531: A third alternative arose in late 3rd century with the Corinthian order . A multitude of different ground plans were developed, each of which could be combined with the superstructure in the different orders. Temples would be destroyed due to warfare in the Greek World or from lack of repairs. Some of these temples such as the temple of Poseidon Soter (The Savior) would be rebuilt outside of Athens after

1665-646: A throne on the coast in order to see the Greeks defeated. Instead, the Persians were routed. Sparta's hegemony was passing to Athens, and it was Athens that took the war to Asia Minor. The victories enabled it to bring most of the Aegean and many other parts of Greece together in the Delian League , an Athenian-dominated alliance. Pericles – an Athenian general, politician and orator – distinguished himself above

1776-414: A type of half-timbered technique. The elements of this simple and clearly structured wooden architecture produced all the important design principles that were to determine the development of Greek temples for centuries. Near the end of the 7th century, the dimensions of these simple structures were increased considerably. Temple C at Thermos is the first of the hekatompedoi , temples with

1887-483: A very early and rather deep example of an opisthodomos (rear room) with two columns down the centre. The tiled roof had a gable at the front, but sloped down at the rear. There are "an elaborate series of terracotta revetments found scattered about the temple site. These include roof tiles, simas, at least two series of antefixes decorated in relief with human busts, a sphinx acroterion and 10 fragmentary metope plaques with painted representations." The metopes include

1998-469: A wider variety of colours and nuances. Recessed or otherwise shaded elements, like mutules or triglyph slits could be painted black. The paint was mostly applied to parts that were not load-bearing, whereas structural parts like columns or the horizontal elements of architrave and geison were left unpainted (if made of high-quality limestone or marble) or covered with a white stucco . Greek temples were often enhanced with figural decorations. especially

2109-535: A width of nine columns (enneastyle), and the Archaic temple at Thermos with a width of five columns (pentastyle). The elevation of Greek temples is always subdivided in three zones: the crepidoma , the columns and the entablature . Stereobate, euthynteria and crepidoma form the substructure of the temple. The underground foundation of a Greek temple is known as the stereobate . It consists of several layers of squared stone blocks. The uppermost layer,

2220-459: Is a major difference from Roman temples which were often designed as part of a planned urban area or square and had a strong emphasis on being viewed frontally. The foundations of Greek temples could reach dimensions of up to 115 by 55 m, i.e. the size of an average football pitch . Columns could reach a height of 20 m. To design such large architectural bodies harmoniously, a number of basic aesthetic principles were developed and tested already on

2331-469: Is decorated with an egg-and-dart band followed by a sculpted pillow forming two volutes , supporting a thin abacus . The eponymous Corinthian capital of the Corinthian order is crowned by rings of stylised acanthus leaves, forming tendrils and volutes that reach to the corners of the abacus . The capitals support the entablature . In the Doric order, the entablature always consists of two parts,

SECTION 20

#1732776271767

2442-455: Is determined by the number of columns at the front. Modern scholarship uses the following terms: The term dodekastylos is only used for the 12-column hall at the Didymaion . No temples with facades of that width are known. Very few temples had an uneven number of columns at the front. Examples are Temple of Hera I at Paestum , Temple of Apollo A at Metapontum , both of which have

2553-404: Is limited since many of these were destroyed, and the subject is controversial. A typical early sanctuary seems to have consisted of a temenos , often around a sacred grove, cave or spring, and perhaps defined only by marker stones at intervals, with an altar for offerings. Many rural sanctuaries probably stayed in this style, but the more popular were gradually able to afford a building to house

2664-430: Is mostly represented by a multitude of small temples in antis and prostyle temples, as well as tiny shrines ( naiskoi ). The latter had been erected in important places, on market squares, near springs and by roads, since the Archaic period, but reached their main flourish now. This limitation to smaller structures led to the development of a special form, the pseudoperipteros , which uses engaged columns along

2775-404: Is the pseudoperipteros , where the side columns of the peristasis are indicated only by engaged columns or pilasters directly attached to the external naos walls. A dipteros or dipteral is equipped with a double colonnade on all four sides, sometimes with further rows of columns at the front and back. A pseudodipteros has engaged columns in the inner row of columns at

2886-441: The antae without columns. An amphiprostylos or amphiprostyle repeats the same column setting at the back. In contrast, the term peripteros or peripteral designates a temple surrounded by ptera (colonnades) on all four sides, each usually formed by a single row of columns. This produces an unobstructed surrounding portico, the peristasis , on all four sides of the temple. A Hellenistic and Roman form of this shape

2997-413: The opisthodomos at the back of the naos indicated merely by half-columns and shortened antae , so that it can be described as a pseudo-opisthodomos . If the porch of a temple in antis has a row of usually four or six columns in front of its whole breadth, the temple is described as a prostylos or prostyle temples. The whole pronaos may be omitted in this case or just leave

3108-472: The euthynteria , partially protrudes above the ground level. Its surface is carefully smoothed and levelled. It supports a further foundation of three steps, the crepidoma . The uppermost level of the crepidoma provides the surface on which the columns and walls are placed; it is called stylobate . Placed on the stylobate are the vertical column shafts, tapering towards the top. They are normally made of several separately cut column drums. Depending on

3219-472: The hypotrachelion , and the capital , in Ionic columns, the capital sits directly on the shaft. In the Doric order, the capital consists of a circular torus bulge, originally very flat, the so-called echinus , and a square slab, the abacus . In the course of their development, the echinus expands more and more, culminating in a linear diagonal, at 45° to the vertical. The echinus of Ionic columns

3330-706: The naos walls to produce the illusion of a peripteral temple. An early case of this is temple L at Epidauros , followed by many prominent Roman examples, such as the Maison Carrée at Nîmes . In the early 1st century BC, the Mithridatic Wars led to changes of architectural practice. The role of sponsor was increasingly taken by Roman magistrates of the Eastern provinces , who rarely demonstrated their generosity by building temples. Nevertheless, some temples were erected at this time, e.g.

3441-399: The opisthodomos , which became necessary for entirely aesthetic reasons. After the reintroduction of stone architecture, the essential elements and forms of each temple, such as the number of columns and of column rows, underwent constant change throughout Greek antiquity . In the 6th century BC, Ionian Samos developed the double-colonnaded dipteros as an alternative to

Thermos (Aetolia) - Misplaced Pages Continue

3552-599: The Battle of Marathon . In 480 the Persians returned under a new ruler, Xerxes I . The Hellenic League led by the Spartan King Leonidas led 7,000 men to hold the narrow passageway of Thermopylae against the 100,000–250,000 army of Xerxes, during which Leonidas and 300 other Spartan elites were killed. Simultaneously the Athenians led an indecisive naval battle off Artemisium . However, that delaying action

3663-475: The Delian League in the Peloponnesian War against Sparta and the Peloponnesian League . Athenian democracy was established in 508 BC under Cleisthenes following the tyranny of Isagoras . This system remained remarkably stable, and with a few brief interruptions, it remained in place for 180 years, until 322 BC (aftermath of Lamian War ). The peak of Athenian hegemony was achieved in

3774-524: The Greek colonies of Magna Graecia . Only the west of Asia Minor maintained a low level of temple construction during the 3rd century. The construction of large projects, such as the temple of Apollo at Didyma near Miletus and the Artemision at Sardis did not make much progress. The 2nd century saw a revival of temple architecture, including peripteral temples. This is partially due to

3885-524: The Ionian Greeks of Asia Minor , who were rebelling against the Persian Empire (see Ionian Revolt ). That provoked two Persian invasions of Greece, both of which were repelled under the leadership of the soldier-statesmen Miltiades and Themistocles (see Persian Wars ). In 490 the Athenians, led by Miltiades , prevented the first invasion of the Persians, guided by king Darius I , at

3996-576: The Mycenaean period , even after the destruction of the Mycenaean palaces (LH IIIC, 1200–1100 BC) when a fine krater (large bowl) decorated with warriors in the same style as the well-known Warrior Vase found by Heinrich Schliemann at Mycenae was brought to the site. A large rectangular building (Megaron B) which underlies the Archaic Temple of Apollo was long thought to demonstrate

4107-579: The Temple of Aphrodite at Aphrodisias . The introduction of the principate lead to few new buildings, mostly temples for the imperial cult or to Roman deities , e.g. the temple of Jupiter at Baalbek . Although new temples to Greek deities still continued to be constructed, e.g. the Tychaion at Selge they tend to follow the canonical forms of the developing Roman imperial style of architecture or to maintain local non-Greek idiosyncrasies, like

4218-480: The architrave and the Doric frieze (or triglyph frieze). The Ionic order of Athens and the Cyclades also used a frieze above an architrave, whereas the frieze remained unknown in the Ionic architecture of Asia Minor until the 4th century BC. There, the architrave was directly followed by the dentils . The frieze was originally placed in front of the roof beams, which were externally visible only in

4329-471: The cradle of Western Civilization , and the birthplace of democracy , largely due to the impact of its cultural and political achievements during the 5th and 4th centuries BC on the rest of the then-known European continent. Hippias , son of Peisistratus , had ruled Athens jointly with his brother, Hipparchus, from the death of Peisistratus in about 527. Following the assassination of Hipparchus in about 514, Hippias took on sole rule, and in response to

4440-400: The dentil of the Ionic or Corinthian orders, the cornice protrudes notably. It consists of the geison (on the sloped sides or pediments of the narrow walls a sloped geison ), and the sima . On the long side, the sima , often elaborately decorated, was equipped with water spouts, often in the shape of lions' heads. The pedimental triangle or tympanon on the narrow sides of

4551-463: The elevation . The central cult structure of the temple is the naos or cella , which usually contained a cult statue of the deity. In Archaic temples, a separate room, the so-called adyton was sometimes included after the naos for this purpose. In Sicily , this habit continued into the Classical period. In front of the naos , there is a porch, the pronaos , created by

Thermos (Aetolia) - Misplaced Pages Continue

4662-400: The frieze areas offered space for reliefs and relief slabs; the pedimental triangles often contained scenes of free-standing sculpture . In Archaic times, even the architrave could be relief-decorated on Ionic temples, as demonstrated by the earlier temple of Apollo at Didyma . Here, the architrave corners bore gorgons , surrounded by lions and perhaps other animals. On the other hand,

4773-458: The sacrifices and rituals dedicated to the deity took place outside them, within the wider precinct of the sanctuary, which might be large. Temples were frequently used to store votive offerings. They are the most important and most widespread surviving building type in Greek architecture . In the Hellenistic kingdoms of Southwest Asia and of North Africa , buildings erected to fulfill

4884-747: The "Protectress of the State", the Erechtheion proper, or sanctuary of Erechtheus , and the Pandroseion , or sanctuary of Pandrosos , the daughter of Cecrops. Between the Parthenon and Erechtheion was the colossal Statue of Athena Promachos , or the "Fighter in the Front", whose helmet and spear was the first object on the Acropolis visible from the sea. The lower city was built in the plain around

4995-407: The 10th century BC and the 7th century BC. In its simplest form as a naos , the temple was a simple rectangular shrine with protruding side walls ( antae ), forming a small porch. Until the 8th century BC, there were also apsidal structures with more or less semi-circular back walls, but the rectangular type prevailed. By adding columns to this small basic structure,

5106-463: The 440s to 430s BC, known as the Age of Pericles . In the classical period , Athens was a centre for the arts, learning, and philosophy , the home of Plato 's Academy and Aristotle 's Lyceum , Athens was also the birthplace of Socrates , Plato, Pericles , Aristophanes , Sophocles , and many other prominent philosophers, writers, and politicians of the ancient world. It is widely referred to as

5217-478: The 6th century BC, the ancient Greek temples developed from the small mud brick structures into double- porched monumental "peripteral" buildings with colonnade on all sides, often reaching more than 20 metres in height (not including the roof). Stylistically, they were governed by the regionally specific architectural orders . Whereas the distinction was originally between the Doric and Ionic orders,

5328-770: The Acropolis, but this plain also contained several hills, especially in the southwest part. On the west side the walls embraced the Hill of the Nymphs and the Pnyx , and to the southeast they ran along beside the Ilissos . Among the more important streets, there were: The period from the end of the Persian Wars to the Macedonian conquest marked the zenith of Athens as a center of literature, philosophy (see Greek philosophy ) and

5439-540: The Greeks triggered the development and variety of their temple architecture. The Temple of Isthmia , built in 690–650 BC was perhaps the first true Archaic temple. Its size, colonnade , and roof made it different from then-contemporary buildings. The first temples were mostly mud , brick , and marble structures on stone foundations. The columns and superstructure ( entablature ) were wooden, door openings and antae were protected with wooden planks. The mud brick walls were often reinforced by wooden posts, in

5550-450: The Parthenon, its columns, naos walls or entablature, can be assigned its exact position today. In spite of the immense extra effort entailed in this perfection, the Parthenon, including its sculptural decoration, was completed in the record time of sixteen years (447 to 431). Only three basic colours were used: white, blue and red, occasionally also black. The crepidoma , columns, and architrave were mostly white. Only details, like

5661-527: The Spartan army (the rule of the Thirty Tyrants ). In 403, democracy was restored by Thrasybulus and an amnesty declared. Sparta's former allies soon turned against her due to her imperialist policies, and Athens's former enemies, Thebes and Corinth , became her allies. Argos , Thebes and Corinth, allied with Athens, fought against Sparta in the Corinthian War of 395–387 BC. In 378,

SECTION 50

#1732776271767

5772-546: The architects choose the alignment of the outer wall face with the adjacent column axis as the obligatory principle for Doric temples. Doric temples in Greater Greece rarely follow this system. The basic proportions of the building were determined by the numeric relationship of columns on the front and back to those on the sides. The classic solution chosen by Greek architects is the formula "frontal columns : side columns = n : (2n+1)", which can also be used for

5883-423: The architectural order, a different number of flutings are cut into the column shaft: Doric columns have 18 to 20 flutings, Ionic and Corinthian ones normally have 24. Early Ionic columns had up to 48 flutings. While Doric columns stand directly on the stylobate, Ionic and Corinthian ones possess a base, sometimes additionally placed atop a plinth . In Doric columns , the top is formed by a concavely curved neck,

5994-418: The arts (see Greek theatre ). Some of the most important figures of Western cultural and intellectual history lived in Athens during this period: the dramatists Aeschylus , Aristophanes , Euripides and Sophocles , the philosophers Aristotle , Plato , and Socrates , the historians Herodotus , Thucydides and Xenophon , the poet Simonides and the sculptor Phidias . The leading statesman of this period

6105-524: The attempt of the Spartan commander Sphodrias to capture Piraeus by surprise triggered Athens to establish the Second Athenian League . Finally Thebes defeated Sparta in 371 in the Battle of Leuctra . However, other Greek cities, including Athens, turned against Thebes , and its dominance was brought to an end at the Battle of Mantinea (362 BC) with the death of its leader, the military genius Epaminondas . By mid century, however,

6216-514: The basis of local government. The tribes each selected fifty members by lot for the Boule , the council that governed Athens on a day-to-day basis. The public opinion of voters could be influenced by the political satires written by the comic poets and performed in the city theaters . The Assembly or Ecclesia was open to all full citizens and was both a legislature and a supreme court, except in murder cases and religious matters, which became

6327-508: The building is likely to have been constructed after the end of the Mycenaean period c. 1000–900 BC; b) that the curious horseshoe shaped setting of stone slabs which appeared to surround the Megaron was only put in place after the Megaron had gone out of use and c) that the burnt stratum with the typical offerings of the later Geometric period (800–700 BC), attested at many Greek sanctuary sites such as Olympia and Delphi , intervenes between

6438-434: The city, 75 stadia (9.5 miles, 15 km) to the long walls, and 56.5 stadia (7 miles, 11 km) to Piraeus, Munichia, and Phalerum. There were many gates, among the more important there were: The Acropolis , also called Cecropia from its reputed founder, Cecrops , was a steep rock in the middle of the city, about 50 meters high, 350 meters long, and 150 meters wide; its sides were naturally scarped on all sides except

6549-442: The city-state Sparta ended with an Athenian defeat after Sparta started its own navy. Athenian democracy was briefly overthrown by the coup of 411 , brought about because of its poor handling of the war, but it was quickly restored. The war ended with the complete defeat of Athens in 404. Since the defeat was largely blamed on democratic politicians such as Cleon and Cleophon , there was a brief reaction against democracy, aided by

6660-445: The cult statue. In front of the naos , a small porch or pronaos was formed by the protruding naos walls, the antae . The pronaos was linked to the naos by a door. To support the superstructure, two columns were placed between the antae ( distyle in antis ). When equipped with an opisthodomos with a similar distyle in antis design, this is called a double anta temple. A variant of that type has

6771-546: The defeat of the Persian Empire in 449. From the 3rd century onward, the construction of large temples became less common; after a short 2nd century BC flourish, it ceased nearly entirely in the 1st century BC. Thereafter, only smaller structures were started, while older temples continued to be renovated or brought to completion if in an unfinished state. Greek temples were designed and constructed according to set proportions, mostly determined by

SECTION 60

#1732776271767

6882-525: The development led from simpler early forms which often appear coarse and bulky up to the aesthetic perfection and refinement of the later structures; from simple experimentation to the strict mathematical complexity of ground plans and superstructures. From the early Hellenistic period onwards, the Greek peripteral temple lost much of its importance. With very few exceptions, Classical temple construction ceased both in Hellenistic Greece and in

6993-437: The earlier temples of Asia Minor. The Doric frieze was structured by triglyphs . These were placed above the axis of each column, and above the centre of each intercolumniation . The spaces between the triglyphs contained metopes , sometimes painted or decorated with relief sculpture. In the Ionic or Corinthian orders, the frieze possesses no triglyphs and is simply left flat, sometimes decorated with paintings or reliefs. With

7104-440: The enclosure. At the same time, three long stoas were built within the precinct and the spring just to the south of the temple (perhaps the original reason for the location of the site) was enclosed to form a fine stone-lined "fountain" or pool. The Aetolians at this period embellished the sanctuary with astonishing numbers of bronze dedicatory statues but today only a few fragments (fingers and toes or horses' hooves) as well as

7215-451: The end of Greek temple construction. New temples now belonged to the tradition of the Roman temple , which, in spite of the very strong Greek influence on it, aimed for different goals and followed different aesthetic principles (for a comparison, see the other article ). The main temple building sat within a larger precinct or temenos , usually surrounded by a peribolos fence or wall;

7326-418: The extent to which the Doric order in stone recreates or imitates earlier buildings in wood. The two sets "are commonly held to be the oldest metopes known so far". It is argued that both sets are too large ("way too high"), at about 90 cm, for the function traditionally assigned to them in the wood-to-stone model, but instead demonstrate that "the Doric frieze was a decorative rather a structural feature" from

7437-565: The extra weight compared to thatch or wooden shingles was perhaps a factor driving the change to building with stone. Much later, in the Hellenistic period , the wooden columns were replaced with stone, but the entablature seems to have been left. There were fifteen columns on each side, and five at each end (counting the corner ones twice), also a row of ten columns down the cella . The survivals in terracotta are metopes , nearly three feet square, and mask antefixes above them. The overall dimensions are c. 40 x 125 ft (12.13 x 38.23 m). It had

7548-471: The fact its creation served greatly the man who created it. The reforms of Cleisthenes replaced the traditional four Ionic "tribes" ( phyle ) with ten new ones, named after legendary heroes of Greece and having no class basis, which acted as electorates. Each tribe was in turn divided into three trittyes (one from the coast; one from the city and one from the inland divisions), while each trittys had one or more demes , depending on their population, which became

7659-426: The field of culture), combined to release much energy into the revival of complex Greek temple architecture. During this phase, Greek temples became widespread in southern Asia Minor, Egypt and Northern Africa . But in spite of such examples and of the positive conditions produced by the economic upturn and the high degree of technical innovation in the 3rd and 2nd centuries, Hellenistic religious architecture

7770-523: The form of reliefs and sculptures on the pediment . The construction of temples was usually organised and financed by cities or by the administrations of sanctuaries. Private individuals, especially Hellenistic rulers, could also sponsor such buildings. In the late Hellenistic period , their decreasing financial wealth, along with the progressive incorporation of the Greek world within the Roman state , whose officials and rulers took over as sponsors, led to

7881-409: The frieze, now started at a higher level, behind the geison . This ended the structural link between frieze and roof; the structural elements of the latter could now be placed independent of axial relationships. As a result, the naos walls lost their fixed connection with the columns for a long time and could be freely placed within the peristasis . Only after a long phase of developments did

7992-532: The functions of a temple often continued to follow the local traditions. Even where a Greek influence is visible, such structures are not normally considered as Greek temples. This applies, for example, to the Graeco-Parthian and Bactrian temples, or to the Ptolemaic examples, which follow Egyptian tradition . Most Greek temples were oriented astronomically. Between the 9th century BC and

8103-543: The gradual closure of Greek temples, or their conversion into Christian churches . Thus ends the history of the Greek temples' original purpose, although many of them remained in use for a long time afterwards. For example, the Athenian Parthenon , first reconsecrated as a church was turned into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest and remained structurally unharmed until the 17th century AD. Only

8214-459: The horizontally cut grooves at the bottom of Doric capitals ( annuli ), or decorative elements of Doric architraves (e.g. taenia and guttae ) might be painted in different colours. The frieze was clearly structured by use of colours. In a Doric triglyph frieze, blue triglyphs alternated with red metopes, the latter often serving as a background for individually painted sculptures. Reliefs, ornaments, and pedimental sculptures were executed with

8325-608: The hypothetical development of the Archaic Greek temple form from the Mycenaean palace with the addition of a peristyle (or surrounding colonnade ). This was using a tenth-century dating, abandoned many decades ago; statuettes found underneath it date to about 700 BC. In fact it may have been a lean-to. Recent excavations conducted by Professor I. Papapostolou for the Archaeological Society of Athens ( Archaiologike Etairia Athenon ) have confirmed that a)

8436-420: The influence of the architect Hermogenes of Priene , who redefined the principles of Ionic temple construction both practically and through theoretical work. At the same time, the rulers of the various Hellenistic kingdoms provided copious financial resources. Their self-aggrandisation, rivalry, desires to stabilise their spheres of influence, as well as the increasing conflict with Rome (partially played out in

8547-429: The introduction of stone architecture, the protection of the porticos and the support of the roof construction was moved upwards to the level of the geison , depriving the frieze of its structural function and turning it into an entirely decorative feature. Frequently, the naos is also decorated with architrave and frieze, especially at the front of the pronaos . Above the frieze, or an intermediate member, e.g.

8658-455: The invention of the eustylos . The Temple of Dionysos at Teos , normally ascribed to Hermogenes, does indeed have intercolumnia measuring 2 1/6 of the lower column diameters. To loosen up the mathematical strictness and to counteract distortions of human visual perception, a slight curvature of the whole building, hardly visible with the naked eye, was introduced. The ancient architects had realised that long horizontal lines tend to make

8769-592: The loss of his brother, became a worse leader who was increasingly disliked. Hippias exiled 700 of the Athenian noble families, amongst them Cleisthenes ' family, the Alchmaeonids. Upon their exile, they went to Delphi, and Herodotus says they bribed the Pythia always to tell visiting Spartans that they should invade Attica and overthrow Hippias. That supposedly worked after a number of times, and Cleomenes I led

8880-440: The lower diameter of the columns or by the dimensions of the foundation levels. The nearly mathematical strictness of the basic designs thus reached was lightened by optical refinements. In spite of the still widespread idealised image, Greek temples were painted, so that bright reds and blues contrasted with the white of the building stones or of stucco . The more elaborate temples were equipped with very rich figural decoration in

8991-585: The magnificent Propylaea , "the Entrances", built by Pericles , before the right wing of which was the small Temple of Athena Nike . The summit of the Acropolis was covered with temples, statues of bronze and marble, and various other works of art. Of the temples, the grandest was the Parthenon , sacred to the "Virgin" goddess Athena ; and north of the Parthenon was the magnificent Erechtheion , containing three separate temples, one to Athena Polias , or

9102-584: The marble bases on which they stood, survive to illustrate this wealth. Unfortunate political alliances led to the sack of the site first by the King Philip V of Macedon during the Social War (220–217 BC) and then by the Romans in 189 BC which effectively ended its existence. By the 1st century BC burials were being made into the sites of the large public buildings, suggesting the site was abandoned as

9213-515: The northern Greek kingdom of Macedon was becoming dominant in Athenian affairs. In 338 BC the armies of Philip II defeated Athens at the Battle of Chaeronea , effectively limiting Athenian independence. During the winter of 338–37 BC Macedonia, Athens and other Greek states became part of the League of Corinth . Further, the conquests of his son, Alexander the Great , widened Greek horizons and made

9324-434: The number of columns per side, they also determined the dimensions of stylobate and peristasis , as well as of the naos proper. The rules regarding vertical proportions, especially in the Doric order, also allow for a deduction of the basic design options for the entablature from the same principles. Alternatives to this very rational system were sought in the temples of the late 7th and early 6th centuries, when it

9435-522: The number of intercolumniations. As a result, numerous temples of the Classical period in Greece ( c.  500 to 336) had 6 × 13 columns or 5 × 11 intercolumniations. The same proportions, in a more abstract form, determine most of the Parthenon , not only in its 8 × 17 column peristasis , but also, reduced to 4:9, in all other basic measurements, including the intercolumniations, the stylobate,

9546-492: The only remaining functions of the Areopagus. Most offices were filled by lot, although the ten strategoi (generals) were elected. The silver mines of Laurion contributed significantly to the development of Athens in the 5th century BC, when the Athenians learned to prospect, treat, and refine the ore and used the proceeds to build a massive fleet, at the instigation of Themistocles . In 499 BC, Athens sent troops to aid

9657-426: The optical impression of sagging towards their centre. To prevent this effect, the horizontal lines of stylobate and/or entablature were raised by a few centimetres towards the middle of a building. This avoidance of mathematically straight lines also included the columns, which did not taper in a linear fashion, but were refined by a pronounced "swelling" ( entasis ) of the shaft. Additionally, columns were placed with

9768-529: The other personalities of the era, men who excelled in politics , philosophy , architecture , sculpture , history and literature . He fostered arts and literature and gave to Athens a splendor which would never return throughout its history. He executed a large number of public works projects and improved the life of the citizens. Hence, this period is often referred to as "Age of Pericles." Silver mined in Laurium in southeastern Attica contributed greatly to

9879-409: The peripteral temple and to ensure its visibility from all sides, the execution of the front has to be repeated at the rear. A restricted space, the adyton , may be included at the far end of the naos , backing up on the opisthodomos . The complex formed by the naos , pronaos , opisthodomos and possibly the adyton is enclosed on all four sides by the peristasis , usually

9990-473: The prosperity of this Athenian Golden Age. During the time of the ascendancy of Ephialtes as leader of the democratic faction, Pericles was his deputy. When Ephialtes was assassinated by personal enemies, Pericles stepped in and was elected general, or strategos , in 445 BC; a post he held continuously until his death in 429 BC, always by election of the Athenian Assembly . The Parthenon ,

10101-407: The protruding side walls of the naos (the antae ) , and two columns placed between them. A door allows the naos to be accessed from the pronaos . A similar room at the back of the naos is called the opisthodomos . There is no door connecting the opisthodomos with the naos ; its existence is necessitated entirely by aesthetic considerations: to maintain the consistency of

10212-564: The sides. Circular temples form a special type. If they are surrounded by a colonnade, they are known as peripteral tholoi . Although of sacred character, their function as a temple can often not be asserted. A comparable structure is the monopteros , or cyclostyle which, however, lacks a naos . To clarify ground plan types, the defining terms can be combined, producing terms such as: peripteral double anta temple, prostyle in antis , peripteral amphiprostyle, etc. An additional definition, already used by Vitruvius (IV, 3, 3)

10323-498: The single peripteros . This idea was later copied in Didyma , Ephesos and Athens . Between the 6th and the late 4th century, innumerable temples were built; nearly every polis , every Greek colony contained one or several. There were also temples at extra-urban sites and at major sanctuaries like Olympia and Delphi . The observable change of form indicates the search for a harmonious form of all architectural elements:

10434-498: The slabs and the foundations of the Archaic temple which carried the painted metopes. Thus, although the site of the temple was obviously of special importance from at least the end of the Mycenaean period, there is no demonstrable architectural continuity. It is not known whether the sanctuary had a formal boundary before the Hellenistic period when substantial fortification walls with gates and towers were built on three sides of

10545-541: The smaller temples. The main measurement was the foot, varying between 29 and 34 cm from region to region. This initial measurement was the basis for all the units that determined the shape of the temple. Important factors include the lower diameter of the columns and the width of their plinths. The distance between the column axes ( intercolumniation or bay ) could also be used as a basic unit. These measurements were in set proportions to other elements of design, such as column height and column distance. In conjunction with

10656-539: The start. Thermos was already an important regional centre in the prehistoric period: a long apsidal building (with one rounded end: " Megaron A"), elliptical and square houses with finds of pottery in the Middle Helladic tradition together with imports of high quality Mycenaean pottery can all be dated to the Late Helladic IIA period c. 1500 BC. This settlement continued to flourish throughout

10767-571: The temple was created by the Doric introduction of the gabled roof , earlier temples often had hipped roofs . The tympanon was usually richly decorated with pedimental sculpture of mythical scenes or battles. The corners and ridges of the roof were decorated with acroteria , originally geometric, later floral or figural decorations. As far as topographically possible, the temples were freestanding and designed to be viewed from all sides. They were not normally designed with consideration for their surroundings, but formed autonomous structures. This

10878-596: The temples in Petra or Palmyra . The increasing romanisation of the east entailed the end of Greek temple architecture, although work continued on the completion of unfinished large structures like the temple of Apollo at Didyma or the Olympieion at Athens into the later 2nd century AD. The edicts of Theodosius I and his successors on the throne of the Roman Empire , banning pagan cults , led to

10989-430: The traditional Greek city state obsolete. Antipater dissolved the Athenian government and established a plutocratic system in 322 BC (see Lamian War and Demetrius Phalereus ). Athens remained a wealthy city with a brilliant cultural life, but ceased to be an independent power. Athens was in Attica , about 30 stadia from the sea, on the southwest slope of Mount Lycabettus , between the small rivers Cephissus to

11100-413: The unfortunate impact of a Venetian cannonball into the building, then used to store gunpowder, led to the destruction of much of this important temple, more than 2,000 years after it was built. Canonical Greek temples maintained the same basic structure throughout many centuries. The Greeks used a limited number of spatial components, influencing the plan , and of architectural members, determining

11211-661: The west end. It was originally surrounded by an ancient Cyclopean wall said to have been built by the Pelasgians . At the time of the Peloponnesian war only the north part of this wall remained, and this portion was still called the Pelasgic Wall ; while the south part which had been rebuilt by Cimon , was called the Cimonian Wall . On the west end of the Acropolis, where access is alone practicable, were

11322-491: The west, Ilissos to the south, and the Eridanos to the north, the latter of which flowed through the town. The walled city measured about 1.5 km (0.93 mi) in diameter, although at its peak the city had suburbs extending well beyond these walls. The Acropolis was just south of the centre of this walled area. The city was burnt by Xerxes in 480 BC, but was soon rebuilt under the administration of Themistocles , and

11433-512: The whole is usually called a "sanctuary". The Acropolis of Athens is the most famous example, though this was apparently walled as a citadel before a temple was ever built there. This might include many subsidiary buildings, sacred groves or springs, animals dedicated to the deity, and sometimes people who had taken sanctuary from the law, which some temples offered, for example to runaway slaves. The earliest Greek Sanctuaries probably did not contain temple buildings, though our knowledge of these

11544-593: The width-height proportion of the entire building, and the geison (here reversed to 9:4). Since the turn of the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, the proportion of column width to the space between columns, the intercolumnium, played an increasingly important role in architectural theory, reflected, for example, in the works of Vitruvius . According to this proportion, Vitruvius (3, 3, 1 ff) distinguished between five different design concepts and temple types: The determination and discussion of these basic principles went back to Hermogenes , whom Vitruvius credits with

11655-835: Was Pericles , who used the tribute paid by the members of the Delian League to build the Parthenon and other great monuments of classical Athens. The city became, in Pericles's words, an education for Hellas (usually quoted as "the school of Hellas [Greece].") 37°58′N 23°43′E  /  37.97°N 23.72°E  / 37.97; 23.72 Greek temple Greek temples ( Ancient Greek : ναός , romanized :  nāós , lit.   'dwelling', semantically distinct from Latin templum , " temple ") were structures built to house deity statues within Greek sanctuaries in ancient Greek religion . The temple interiors did not serve as meeting places, since

11766-409: Was adorned with public buildings by Cimon and especially by Pericles , in whose time (461–429 BC) it reached its greatest splendour. Its beauty was chiefly due to its public buildings, for the private houses were mostly insignificant, and its streets badly laid out. Towards the end of the Peloponnesian War , it contained more than 10,000 houses, which at a rate of 12 inhabitants to a house would give

11877-527: Was attempted to develop the basic measurements from the planned dimensions of naos or stylobate, i.e. to reverse the system described above and deduce the smaller units from the bigger ones. Thus, for example, the naos length was sometimes set at 100 feet (30 m) (100 is a sacred number, also known from the hecatomb , a sacrifice of 100 animals), and all further measurements had to be in relation to this number, leading to aesthetically quite unsatisfactory solutions. Another determining design feature

11988-408: Was exclusively used for temples in Greek architecture. The combination of the temple with colonnades ( ptera ) on all sides posed a new aesthetic challenge for the architects and patrons: the structures had to be built to be viewed from all directions. This led to the development of the peripteros , with a frontal pronaos (porch), mirrored by a similar arrangement at the back of the building,

12099-399: Was never fully rebuilt and expanded, as happened to most of its contemporaries. It has one of the best preserved pterons , and "is the first of the great tiled buildings" to survive with readable remains. Originally the walls were mud brick, the columns wood, and the entablature wood decorated with painted terracotta . The roof was tiled in terracotta, a recent innovation for the Greeks;

12210-495: Was not enough to discourage the Persian advance, which soon marched through Boeotia , setting up Thebes as their base of operations, and entered southern Greece. That forced the Athenians to evacuate Athens, which was taken by the Persians, and seek the protection of their fleet. Subsequently, the Athenians and their allies, led by Themistocles , defeated the Persian navy at sea in the Battle of Salamis . Xerxes had built himself

12321-425: Was the relationship linking naos and peristasis . In the original temples, this would have been subject entirely to practical necessities, and always based on axial links between naos walls and columns, but the introduction of stone architecture broke that connection. Nevertheless, it did survive throughout Ionic architecture. In Doric temples, however, the wooden roof construction, originally placed behind

#766233