Greek Architecture

GREEK ARCHITECTURE
GEOGRAPHY
• On mainland, rugged
mountains made
communication difficult.
• Mountains separated
inhabitants into groups,
clans, and states.
• Archipelago and islands:

sea was inevitable
means of trade and
communications.
CLIMATE
• Between rigorous cold
and relaxing heat.
• Clear atmosphere and

intense light – conducive
to creating precise and
exact forms.
• Judicial activities,
dramatic presentations,
and public ceremonies
took place in the open air.
RELIGION
• The religion of the “Aegeans” was a nature of worship
which went through a series of primitive stages – mysteries
of masculine force were represented by the sacred bull,
symbolized by the “horns of consecration”; supreme deity
was the fertility or mother goddess – Rhea.
• Worship of natural phenomena.
• Gods were personification of particular elements, or were
defied heroes, and each town or district has its own local
preferences, ceremonies and traditions.
• Priests and priestesses were not members of an exclusive
class but led the normal community.
RELIGION
THE PRINCIPAL GREEK DEITIES:
• Zeus – the supreme god, and ruler of the sky

• Hera – wife of Zeus, goddess of marriage
• Apollo – god of law and reason, art music and poetry,
founder of cities
• Athena – goddess of wisdom and learning
• Poseidon – the sea god
• Dionysos – god of wine, feasting and revelry
• Demeter – goddess of earth and agriculture
• Artemis – goddess of the chase
• Hermes – messenger of the gods
RELIGION
THE PRINCIPAL GREEK DEITIES:
• Aphrodite – god of commerce

• Hephaestus – god of fire, flame and forge god of
handicrafts
• Ares – god of war
• Heracles / Hercules – god of strength and labor pan, god
of the flocks
GEOLOGY
MARBLE LIMESTONE
PHASES OF GREEK ARCHITECTURE
I. AEGEAN PERIOD (MINOAN)

II. HELLADIC PERIOD (MYCENEAN)
III.HELLENIC PERIOD
• Civilizations on Crete and
Greek mainland from
1900-1100 BC.
• Structures were generally
rough and massive.
• Knossos was the largest
city, had a magnificent
palace.
• The capital is ornamented
with square abacus and a
circular bulbous echinus.
PALACE OF KNOSSOS, CRETE
• Cyclopean walls: large
stones without mortars.
• Use of corbelled arch.
• Megaron: Single-storey
dwelling with a central
room and porticoed
entrance; columns
support roof; thalamus
(bedroom).
THE LION’S GATE, MYCENAE, GREECE
TREASURY OF ATREUS
II. HELLENIC PERIOD (MYCENEAN)
• 800 – 323 BC
• The polis emerge as the basis of Greek society.
• Each has it’s own ruler, government and law.
• The temple began to be the chief building type.
• Columnar and trabeated; carpentry in marble.
• Materials used were timber, stone, and terra cotta.
• Refinements to correct optical illusions (Entasis – swelling of
columns)
• Structures were ornamented with sculptures, colors, and
mural paintings.
III. HELLENISTIC PERIOD
• A diversion from religious building types.
• Civic structures were also built; later will be an inspiration
for Roman Architecture.
• The design and layout of buildings were symmetrical and
orderly.
• Moldings were used for decorations.
• Temple entrances faced east.
ACROPOLIS
• “City on the height.”

• In classical Greek
architecture, a city
stronghold or fortress
constructed on higher
ground than surrounding
urban fabric.
ACROPOLIS
TEMENOS
• A sacred area or
enclosure surrounding a
classical Greek Temple.
PROPYLAEA
• A monumental gateway
to a sacred enclosure,
fortification, town, or
square.
PARTHENON
• Built from 447- 438 BC

in honor of Athena,
the city’s patron
goddess.
• Architects: Ictinus
and Callicrates
ATHENS, GREECE
COLUMN ARRANGEMENTS
• Determines the type of colonnade a classical temple has.
INTERCOLUMNIATION
• The space between two adjacent columns.
GREEK ORDERS
GREEK ORDERS
DORIC ORDER
• The oldest, simplest, and most massive

of the three (3) Greek orders.
• Developed in Greece in the 7th
Century BC.
DORIC ORDER’S CHARACTERISTICS
• Fluted (concave curves) having no base.

• Capital: Square abacus at top. Rounded echinus at
the bottom.
• Entablature: Plain architrave. A frieze of triglyph and
metopes, and a cornice. A corona which has mutules
on its soffit.
IONIC ORDER
• A classical order that developed in the

Greek colonies of Asia Minor in the 6th
century BCE.
IONIC ORDER’S CHARACTERISTICS
• Fluted columns typically had molded base.

• Capital: Spiral volutes.
• Entablature: Consists of an architrave of three fascias.
A richly ornamented frieze. And a cornice corbelled
out on egg and dart, and dentil moldings.
TEMPLE OF ATHENA NIKE
Athens, Greece
Architect: Callicrates
CORINTHIAN ORDER
• The most ornate of the five classical

orders developed by Greeks in the 4th
Century BCE.
CORINTHIAN ORDER’S CHARACTERISTICS
• Similar in most respects to Ionic but usually of slender

proportions.
• Capital: deep-bell shaped decorated with acanthus
leaves and an abacus with concave sides.
TEMPLE OF APOLLO
EPICURIUS
Architect: Ictinus and Bassae

FIGURED COLUMNS
FIGURED COLUMNS
FIGURED COLUMNS
FIGURED COLUMNS
FIGURED COLUMNS
ERECHTHEION
Athens, Greece
Architect: Mnesicles

Greek Architecture

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GREEK ARCHITECTURE

• Archipelago and islands:

• Clear atmosphere and

• Zeus – the supreme god, and ruler of the sky

• Aphrodite – god of commerce

I. AEGEAN PERIOD (MINOAN)

• Use of corbelled arch.

• “City on the height.”

• Built from 447- 438 BC

• The oldest, simplest, and most massive

• Fluted (concave curves) having no base.

• A classical order that developed in the

• Fluted columns typically had molded base.

• The most ornate of the five classical

• Similar in most respects to Ionic but usually of slender

Architect: Ictinus and Bassae

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