This list of ancient Greek temples covers temples built by the Hellenic people from the 6th century BC until the 2nd century AD on mainland Greece and in Hellenic towns in the Aegean Islands, Asia Minor, Sicily and Italy ("Magna Graecia"), wherever there were Greek colonies, and the establishment of Greek culture. Ancient Greek architecture was of very regular form, the construction being post and lintel.
There are three clearly defined styles: the Doric order, found throughout Greece, Sicily and Italy; the Ionic order, from Asia Minor, with examples in Greece; and the more ornate Corinthian order, used initially only for interiors, becoming more widely used during the Hellenistic period from the 1st century BC onwards and used extensively by Roman architects.
Each ancient Greek temple was dedicated to a specific god within the pantheon and was used in part as a storehouse for votive offerings. Unlike a church, the interior space was not used as a meeting place, but held trophies and a large cult statue of the deity.
Most ancient Greek temples were rectangular and were approximately twice as long as they were wide, with some notable exceptions such as the enormous Temple of Olympian Zeus, Athens with a length of nearly 2 1/2 times its width. A number of surviving temple-like structures are circular, and are referred to as tholos (Ancient Greek: "dome"). [1]
The smallest temples are less than 25 m (82 ft) in length, or in the case of the circular tholos, in diameter. The great majority of temples are between 30 and 60 m (100 and 200 ft) in length. A small group of Doric temples, including the Parthenon, are between 60–80 m (200–260 ft) in length. The largest temples, mainly Ionic and Corinthian, but including the Doric Temple of Olympian Zeus, Agrigento, were between 90 and 120 metres (approx. 300–390 feet) in length.
The temple rises from a stepped base (stylobate) which elevates the structure above the ground on which it stands. Early examples, such as the Temple of Zeus, Olympia, have two steps but the majority, like the Parthenon, have three, with the exceptional example of the Temple of Apollo, Didyma, having six. [2] The core of the building is a masonry-built naos within which is a cella , a windowless room originally housing the statue of the god. The cella generally has a porch ( pronaos ) before it, and perhaps a second chamber (antenaos) serving as a treasury or repository for trophies and gifts. The chambers were lit by a single large doorway, fitted with a wrought iron grill. Some rooms appear to have been illuminated by skylights. [2]
On the stylobate, often completely surrounding the naos, stand rows of columns. Each temple is defined as being of a particular type, with two terms: one describing the number of columns across the entrance front using Greek numeral prefixes, and the other describing their distribution. [2]
Exact measurements are not available for all buildings. Some have foundations that are intact and have been well surveyed, for others the size can only be estimated from scant remains. There may also be differences between publications where measurements have been in feet or metres or converted between the two.
Sorting behaviour (by column):
Ancient place name | Modern place name (country) Coordinates | Temple (dedication) | Date | Dimens. | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Corinth | Corinth (Greece) 37°54′57″N22°59′35″E / 37.91583°N 22.99305°E | Temple of Isthmia (Poseidon) | c. 690 - 650 BC [3] | 14.018 m × 40.05 m (45 ft 11.9 in × 131 ft 4.8 in) [4] | The date of the Archaic temple's construction establishes when monumental architecture began in Greece, as well as when the transition from Iron Age architecture to Doric occurred. This was also the point at which the Greek temple became a defined form. [5] | |
Corcyra (Korkyra) | Corfu (Greece) 39°36′13″N19°55′28″E / 39.6035°N 19.9245°E | Temple of Hera (Hera) | c. 610 BC | |||
Corcyra (Korkyra) | Corfu (Greece) 39°36′28″N19°55′04″E / 39.6077°N 19.917706°E | Temple of Artemis (Artemis) | c. 580 BC | 23.46 m × 49.00 m (76.97 ft × 160.76 ft) [6] | Doric "peripteral pseudodipteral" temple, [6] which may be the earliest known to incorporate all the major elements of the Doric order. [7] It is the earliest known Doric temple to have been built entirely in stone. [6] | |
Corcyra | Corfu (Greece) 39°36′05″N19°55′34″E / 39.601523°N 19.926100°E | Kardaki Temple (unknown) | c. 510 BC | |||
Olympia | Olympia (Greece) 37°38′20″N21°37′47″E / 37.63877°N 21.62969°E | Temple of Hera | c. 590 BC [3] | 18.75 m × 50.01 m (61.5 ft × 164.1 ft) [4] | Doric peripteral hexastyle building with 16 columns at each side, being long for its breadth in the Archaic style of this date. [4] The building was originally of wood and clay brick construction on a stone base, with the wooden external columns and internal hypostyle columns being replaced with stone piecemeal, so columns are greatly varied. [3] | |
Corinth | Corinth (Greece) 37°54′22″N22°52′45″E / 37.90604°N 22.87916°E | Temple of Apollo | c. 540 BC [3] | 21.36 m × 53.30 m (70.1 ft × 174.9 ft) [8] | Doric peripteral hexastyle temple with 15 columns at each side with two inner chambers on a crepidoma of 3 steps. It was like the Temple of Hera at Olympia, but built entirely of stone. [8] The columns were monolithic with seven of the original 38 surviving. The broad capitals were carved as separate pieces and coated with marble stucco. [9] | |
Delphi | Delphi (Greece) 38°28′57″N22°30′05″E / 38.48241°N 22.50145°E | Temple of Apollo | c. 510 BC [3] | 23.82 m × 60.32 m (78.1 ft × 197.9 ft) [10] | Doric temple on the side of Mount Parnassus, had its legendary origins with the mythical hero architects Trophonius and Agamedes. This, the third temple on the site (330 BC), is by Spintharus, Xenodoros and Agathon. with sculpture by Praias and Androsthenes, retained a hexastyle form with 15 columns at the sides from an earlier building, and was constructed of porous limestone. Little of the temple remains beyond its foundations. [11] | |
Aegina | Aegina (Greece) 37°45′16″N23°31′59″E / 37.75448°N 23.53306°E | The Temple of Aphaea (Aphaea) | c. 500 BC [3] [12] | 15.5 m × 30.5 m (51 ft × 100 ft) | Doric temple which commands a high point on the east side of the island of Aegina, 40 km (25 mi) from Athens. It has a peripteral hexastyle plan with 12 columns along each side, showing the development towards temples that were shorter for their width. The interior has a hypostyle in two stages. [13] The Doric Order demonstrates great refinement throughout. [14] Ceramic roof ornaments and pedimental sculpture showing the battle before Troy have survived. [15] No metopes have been found, and it is thought that they were of wood. [16] | |
Olympia | Olympia (Greece) 37°38′16″N21°37′48″E / 37.63786°N 21.63010°E | Temple of Zeus | c. 460 BC [3] | 27.43 m × 64 m (90.0 ft × 210.0 ft) [17] | Doric, architect: Libon of Elis. [18] A refined peripteral hexastyle temple with 13 columns along each side, in the Classical manner. It had pedimental sculpture of "outstanding magnificence". [17] The local limestone was covered with stucco, while the sculpture, tiles and gutters were marble [19] with bronze acroteria. From 448 BC it housed a colossal chryselephantine statue of Zeus 12 metres (40 feet) high by Pheidias. [18] | |
Athens | Athens (Greece) 37°58′06″N23°43′59″E / 37.96835°N 23.73305°E | Temple on the Ilisos [note 1] | 449 BC [20] | approx. 6 m × 12.8 m (20 ft × 42 ft) [21] | A small Ionic temple, architect: Callicrates, beside the Ilissus River which ran through Athens. It was amphi-prostyle tetrastyle. It differed from the small temples and treasuries by builders from Asia Minor in having a frieze around the entablature. [21] | |
Athens | Athens (Greece) 37°58′32″N23°43′17″E / 37.97556°N 23.72145°E | Temple of Hephaestos | 449 BC - 444 BC [3] | 13.72 m × 31.77 m (45.0 ft × 104.2 ft) [22] | Also known as the Theseion, a Doric peripteral hexastyle building with 13 columns at each side. [22] It is well preserved externally, having been modified at the eastern end to serve as an Orthodox church. It has internal friezes over the porches at either end and has retained much of the original marble coffering over the ambulatory, some with original colourful paint. [18] | |
Bassae | Oichalia (Greece) 37°25′47″N21°54′01″E / 37.42972°N 21.90028°E | Temple of Apollo Epicurius | c. 450 BC - 425 BC [3] | 14.6 m × 38.3 m (48 ft × 126 ft) [23] | The architect, Ictinus, introduced the use of all three orders within a single building and orientated the building north south instead of east west. While the ends appear a regular hexastyle temple, it is very long for its width, about 2.3:1 The interior had many unusual features including Ionic capitals of unique design, a central Corinthian column and an asymmetrically placed statue of Apollo, lit by a side door facing the morning sun. [23] [24] | |
Athens | Athens (Greece) 37°58′17″N23°43′36″E / 37.97146°N 23.72667°E | The Parthenon | 447 BC - 432 BC [3] | 30.86 m × 69.5 m (101.2 ft × 228.0 ft) [25] | A temple of the Doric Order commanding the Acropolis of Athens. The most renowned of Greek temples and one of the most influential buildings in the world of architecture. Built for Pericles by Ictinus and Callicrates and ornamented with sculpture under the direction of Pheidias. A peripetral octastyle plan, with a ratio of about 4:9. The hypostyle naos contained a colossal statue of Athena. A second chamber, the parthenon or "virgins' chamber" was supported on four tall Ionic columns. While the High Classical sculpture of the exterior is contained by pediment and metope in the Doric style, a frieze encircles the exterior wall of the naos in the Ionic manner. The temple remained relatively intact until the 18th century, from when it suffered several incidents of serious damage. Much of its sculptured ornament is in the British Museum. [25] | |
Cape Sounion | Cape Sounion (Greece) 37°39′01″N24°01′28″E / 37.65023°N 24.02445°E | Temple of Poseidon | 444 BC - 440 BC [3] | 13.47 m × 31.12 m (44.2 ft × 102.1 ft) [26] | Doric peripteral hexastyle building, with attenuated columns (6.12 m) and the perfected Classical proportion of being just slightly longer than twice its width and representing, with the Parthenon and the Temple of Poseidon at Paestum, the ultimate[ citation needed ] refinement of the Doric Order. Remnants of its frieze depicting the story of Theseus and the Battle of Lapiths and Centaurs survive. [27] | |
Rhamnous | Marathon (Greece) 38°13′03″N24°01′37″E / 38.21760°N 24.02689°E | Temple of Nemesis (Nemesis) | 436 BC - 432 BC [3] | 10.05 m × 21.4 m (33.0 ft × 70.2 ft) | Doric hexastyle temple with 12 columns on the sides, with the columns left unfluted and the stylobate unfinished. | |
Athens | Athens (Greece) 37°58′17″N23°43′31″E / 37.97152°N 23.72514°E | Temple of Athena Nike | 427 BC [20] | approx. 5.5 m × 8 m (18 ft × 26 ft) [28] | Ionic temple [20] also called Nike Apteros ("Victory without wings"), architect: Callicrates. A small amphi-prostyle tetrastyle temple, which was built close to the Propylaea on the Acropolis. The temple was demolished in 1687 and the stone reused for Turkish fortifications, but were recovered and the temple reassembled in 1836. [20] [28] | |
Athens | Athens (Greece) 37°58′19″N23°43′35″E / 37.97206°N 23.72652°E | The Erechtheion | 421 BC - 405 BC [20] | approx. 11.5 m × 22.85 m (37.7 ft × 75.0 ft) [28] | Ionic temple on the Acropolis of Athens [20] dedicated to Athena Polias, defender of the city; Erechtheus and Poseidon. Architect: Mnesicles. The building is highly irregular, as there are encroaching sacred sites on two sides, and the ground falls away steeply. The main part is an amphi-prostyle hexastyle building with its portico to the east and encircled by a frieze of black limestone previously adorned with marble figures. There are three chambers, the larger dedicated to Athena and accessed by the eastern portico. The north porch is tetrastyle two bays deep and contains a large doorway in a good state of preservation. The southern porch has six caryatids 7 ft 9 in (2.36 m) supporting the entablature. [29] | |
Capo Colonna | Capo Colonna (Italy) | Temple of Hera Lacinia | c. 480 BC | |||
Delphi | Delphi (Greece) 38°28′49″N22°30′29″E / 38.48036944°N 22.50796944°E | Tholos of Delphi (Athena) | c. 400 BC [20] | diameter: 14.76 m (48.4 ft) | A circular temple or treasury built by Theodorus of Phocaea which established the pattern of circular temples. [30] An early example of a Doric exterior with a Corinthian interior. [31] The exterior and interior had 20 and 10 columns respectively. [32] | |
Epidauros | Epidauros (Greece) 37°35′55″N23°04′28″E / 37.59850°N 23.07433°E | Temple of Asclepius | c. 380 BC [3] | approx. 80 m × 43 m (262 ft × 141 ft) | Doric hexastyle building with 11 columns on the sides, [33] architect: Theodotus. It had pedimental sculpture by Timotheos, including acroteria in the form of small statues. [34] The expense accounts for the construction of this temple have survived. [33] (Picture: The ruins of the temple's foundations are in the foreground. The columns are part of the Stoa of the Sick and mark an area dedicated to Asclepius.) [35] | |
Epidauros | Epidauros (Greece) 37°35′54″N23°04′26″E / 37.59835°N 23.07398°E | Tholos of Polycleitos | c. 350 BC [3] | diameter: 21.95 m (72.0 ft) [36] | A circular temple or treasury, surrounded by twenty six columns of the Doric Order and having 14 internal Corinthian columns. [36] | |
Olympia | Olympia (Greece) 37°38′19″N21°37′45″E / 37.63863°N 21.62916°E | The Philippeion | 339 BC [24] | diameter: 16 m (52 ft) [36] | Ionic tholos, with 18 external Ionic columns and 9 internal Corinthian columns, architect: Leochares [36] It was built as a memorial to Philip II of Macedon and his family. | |
Delos | Delos (Greece) 37°24′02″N25°16′01″E / 37.40058°N 25.26708°E | Delian Temple of Apollo | 470 BC - c. 300 BC [3] | approx. 13 m × 30 m (43 ft × 98 ft) [37] | Doric peripteral hexastyle building with 13 columns on the sides. With other temple buildings inside the sanctuary at Delos. Its completion was delayed. The whole site is in a ruinous state and little of the temple remains except the outer part of the crepidoma. [37] | |
Syracuse | Syracuse (Italy) 37°03′50″N15°17′35″E / 37.06394°N 15.29297°E | Temple of Apollo | 565 BC [3] | 21.57 m × 55.33 m (70.8 ft × 181.5 ft) [22] | Doric peripteral hexastyle building with 17 columns down each side and an additional row of columns at the eastern end. The columns at the sides are very close together. [22] | |
Athens | Athens (Greece) 37°58′10″N23°43′59″E / 37.96934°N 23.73310°E | The Temple of Olympian Zeus | 174 BC - AD 132 [24] | 44.35 m × 110.5 m (145.5 ft × 362.5 ft) [38] | A huge Corinthian temple, architect: Cossutius. Built as a gift to Athens by Antiochus Epiphanes and constructed in 3 stages. It was dipteral octastyle and was long for its width in the style off the much earlier Archaic period. It had 20 columns on each side and a triple row at the porticos, 104 columns, (diameter: 1.9 metres diameter, height: 17 metres high)(6 ft 4 ins; 56 ft). Some of the columns were shipped to Rome before the temple was complete and used for the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus where they had a profound effect on Roman architecture. It was completed and dedicated by Hadrian, more than 300 years after it began. Only 15 columns remain. [24] [38] [39] | |
Selinunte | Castelvetrano (Italy) | 37°34′59″N12°49′31″E / 37.58316°N 12.82528°E | Selinunte Temple "C" (Apollo) | c. 550 BC [3] | 23.93 m × 63.76 m (78.5 ft × 209.2 ft) [40] | One of a group of Doric temples on the Acropolis or "western group" at Selinunte. [3] (distant view) It has similarities to the Temple of Apollo at Syracuse. It is a peripteral hexastyle temple with 17 columns at the sides and an additional row of columns at the eastern end. Like other temples at this location it had a second room, only accessible from the naos, which was narrow and had no internal columns. The aisles are correspondingly wider. [40] Metopes from this temple showing Archaic sculpture of the Labours of Hercules are in the National Museum, Palermo. [41] | |
Paestum | Paestum (Italy) 40°25′10″N15°00′19″E / 40.41932°N 15.00536°E | Temple of Hera I | c. 550 BC [3] | 24.26 m × 59.98 m (79.6 ft × 196.8 ft) [42] | One of the earliest Doric temples to have survived substantially intact. [43] Also known as "the Basilica", it is an unusual building with 9 columns across the front, 18 on each side and a row of columns along the centre of the naos; peripteral enneastyle in plan. [44] Its columns have very marked entasis (cigar-shaped) and flattened bulging capitals. [45] | |
Selinunte | Castelvetrano (Italy) 37°35′12″N12°50′05″E / 37.58662°N 12.83480°E | Temple of Hera, (Temple "E") | 5th century BC [40] | 25.32 m × 67.74 m (83.1 ft × 222.2 ft) [40] | The best preserved Doric temple at Selinunte, it is in the eastern group with Temple "F" and Temple "G". It is a peripteral hexastyle temple with 15 columns at each side, wide aisles and a broad flight of steps to the stylobate.. It has a long narrow naos and inner chamber like other temples at Selinunte but has inner porches at both ends in the Greek manner. [40] | |
Selinunte | Castelvetrano (Italy) 37°35′14″N12°50′06″E / 37.58727°N 12.83492°E | Temple "F" | 5th century BC | 24.23 m × 61.83 m (79.5 ft × 202.9 ft) [40] | Doric hexastyle temple with 14 columns at each side. The columns appear to have had a low screen wall running between them. In other ways it strongly resembles Selinunte Temple "C", having wide aisles, a deep colonnaded porch and a long narrow naos with a second chamber. [40] It at the eastern temple site at Selinunte, between Temples "E" and "G". It is in a ruined state. | |
Selinunte | Castelvetrano (Italy) 37°35′17″N12°50′06″E / 37.58819°N 12.83491°E | The Great Temple of Apollo, (Temple "G") | c. 520 BC - 450 BC [3] | 50.10 m × 110.36 m [ 164.4 ft × 362.1 ft ] [40] | Doric peripteral octastyle temple with 18 columns at the sides, in the eastern group at Selinunte, with Temples "E" and "F". It is the largest temple at this site and was never completed. It is now in a state of total ruin. An ambitious building of distinctive plan, having a stylobate rising in two levels and aisles of sufficient width to suggest that either a second row of columns was intended, or that the builders of Sicily, unlike their mainland Greek counterparts, used the trussed roof. The colonnaded inner porch has side, as well as front columns, so that the temple might be termed "pseudo-dipteral". There was a double row of columns within the cella, rising in two stages, of very much more delicate proportions than the exterior colonnade. [40] | |
Paestum | Paestum (Italy) 40°25′28″N15°00′20″E / 40.42451°N 15.00545°E | Temple of Athena | c. 510 BC [3] | 14.54 by 32.88 m (47.7 by 107.9 ft) (47' 8" x 107' 10") [46] | Also called the Temple of Demeter, a Doric peripteral hexastyle building with thirteen columns at the side, having proportions that were to be established as the Doric ideal in such buildings as the Temple of Poseidon at Sunion. The columns have pronounced entasis and the capitals are large and wide. [47] This temple had a number of Ionic features, including the columns of its inner porch and the moulding that ran between the architrave and typically Doric frieze of triglyphs and metopes. [48] | |
Akragas | Agrigento (Italy) 37°17′27″N13°35′04″E / 37.29082°N 13.58441°E | Temple of the Olympian Zeus | c. 510 BC - 409 BC [3] | 52.75 m × 110 m [ 173.1 ft × 360.9 ft ] [44] | Doric pseudoperipteral building with seven attached columns (height: approx. 17 metres)(56 ft) across the front with Atlantes (height: 6 metres/20 feet) between them. The building's coarse exterior stone was coated with marble stucco. [44] | |
Syracuse | Syracuse (Italy) 37°03′35″N15°17′37″E / 37.05965°N 15.29354°E | Temple of Athena | 480 BC [3] | 22 m × 55 m [ 72 ft × 180 ft ] [40] | Of Doric hexastyle plan with 14 columns at the sides. Part of the structure is incorporated in Syracuse Cathedral. [40] | |
Akragas | Agrigento (Italy) 37°17′19″N13°36′00″E / 37.28860°N 13.60013°E | Temple D | c. 460 BC [3] | 16.89 m × 38.13 m [ 55.4 ft × 125.1 ft ] [40] | Doric temple built south east of the large ancient city of Agrigento, with the Temple of Concord, the Temple of Zeus Olympias and several others, in an area known as the Valle dei Templi [40] | |
Paestum | Paestum (Italy) 40°25′12″N15°00′19″E / 40.41997°N 15.00530°E | Second Temple of Hera ("Temple of Poseidon") | c. 460 BC [3] | 18.25 m × 60.35 m [ 59.9 ft × 198.0 ft ] [44] | Doric, one of the best preserved temples, showing a consolidation of ideas of design that were developing towards an "ideal type" already prevalent in Greece. It is a hexastyle temple with rather stout columns (8.85 metres high)(29 ft) and a hypostyle naos rising in two stages. [3] [44] Originally thought to have been dedicated to Poseidon | |
Akragas | Agrigento (Italy) 37°17′23″N13°35′31″E / 37.28963°N 13.59202°E | Temple of Concordia | c. 430 BC [3] | 16.92 m × 39.42 m (55.5 ft × 129.3 ft) | Doric temple (Agrigento "F") is a very well preserved peripteral hexastyle building with 13 columns at each side, in the manner of temples in Greece. | |
Segesta | Calatafimi-Segesta (Italy) 37°56′29″N12°49′57″E / 37.94147°N 12.83239°E | Temple at Segesta | c. 424 BC [3] | 21 m × 56 m (69 ft × 184 ft)< | Doric peripteral hexastyle plan, is unusual in having unfluted columns that stand on square plinths in two stages. [47] It also has no cella walls. These features probably indicate that the building was left incomplete, but it has been suggested that no cella was intended. [40] | |
Ephesus | Selçuk (Turkey) 37°56′59″N27°21′50″E / 37.94968°N 27.36381°E | The Archaic Temple of Artemis | c. 560 BC, lost 356 BC [49] | over 50m x 110m (appx. 170 ft x 360 ft) [50] | Ionic temple, probably a dipteral octastyle plan, with columns having up to 48 flutes, and a varied design on the Ionic capitals which were each 3 metres wide (10 ft). The lower part of each column had an encircling frieze of figures and stood on a deeply moulded torus and, used here for the first time, a square plinth that was to become an accepted feature of Classical architecture. The temple was burned down in 356 BC and rebuilt. [50] Was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and survived until somewhere around the 5th century CE. | |
Samos | Samos (Greece) 37°40′19″N26°53′08″E / 37.67190°N 26.88556°E | Temple of Hera (Hera) | c. 540 BC [49] | 52.45 m × 108.6 m (172.1 ft × 356.3 ft) [51] | Ionic temple, architects: Rhoikos and Theodoros of Samos, of dipteral plan, having two rows of 8 columns at the eastern end and two rows of 9 at the western and 24 columns at each side. It was built on the site of the earliest very large Ionic temple, destroyed by fire. It was of similar plan, and retained the bases of the earlier temple's columns within its foundations. [51] After its destruction around 550 BC a third, even larger, temple was started nearby. | |
Ephesus | Selçuk (Turkey) 37°56′59″N27°21′50″E / 37.94968°N 27.36381°E | Temple of Artemis | c. 356 BC [49] | 64.3 m × 119.175 m (210.96 ft × 390.99 ft) [50] | One of the "Seven Wonders of the Ancient World". It was an Ionic temple, architects: Demetrius and Paeonius of Ephesus; sculptor: Scopas. Centre of the Pan-Ionian festival. The third temple dedicated to Artemis on the site, it was dipteral octastyle at the front, with the space between the columns increasing towards the central space, where the stone lintel (height: 1.2 metres)(4 ft) spanned over 8.5 metres (28 ft). At the rear, the temple had 9 columns. The temple's stylobate was raised on a high crepidoma (height: 2.75 metres)(9 ft). The Ionic capitals were much less wide than those of the Archaic temple, and the columns had the regular 24 flutes. A feature which appears to have been introduced at this temple was the cubic pedestal between the column and its square plinth. Archaeologists are still uncertain whether the temple had a frieze or not. [50] | a model of the lost temple, as viewed from the back |
Priene | Söke (Turkey) 37°39′34″N27°17′47″E / 37.65932°N 27.29646°E | Temple of Athena Polias | c. 334 BC [49] | 19.5m x 37. 2m (64' x 122') [21] | Ionic temple, architect: Pythius of Priene, of peripteral hexastyle temple, with ratio approximately 1:2. The columns (height: 11.45)(37 ft 6 ins) rest on plinths. Like many other Ionic temples of Asia Minor, there was no frieze. [21] | |
Sardis | Sart (Turkey) 38°28′45″N28°01′53″E / 38.47921°N 28.03128°E | Temple of Artemis–Cybele (Artemis–Cybele) | c. 325 BC [49] | 48.78 m × 91.44 m (160.0 ft × 300.0 ft) [52] | One of the largest Ionic temples. It was dipteral octastyle, with its entrance to the west. It was left unfinished, with further construction around 275 BC and was completed by the Romans. Little remains standing except the foundations, two intact columns and several stumps. [52] | |
Miletus | Balat (Turkey) 37°23′05″N27°15′23″E / 37.38486°N 27.25639°E | Temple of Apollo Didymaeus | 313 BC – AD 41 [49] | 45.75 m × 109.45 m (150.1 ft × 359.1 ft) [21] | Ionic temple with early Corinthian features, [24] [49] architects: Paeonius of Ephesus and Daphnis of Miletus. This dipteral decastyle temple with 21 columns on each side, was not much smaller than the enormous Temple of Artemis at Ephesus. It was under construction for about 250 years but was never completed. The naos was never roofed, but remained a sunken courtyard in which there was a shrine that housed the statue of Apollo. The temple had a door flanked by attached columns with early examples of Corinthian capitals. [21] [53] | |
Teos | Sığacık (Turkey) 38°10′38″N26°47′06″E / 38.17723°N 26.78502°E | Temple of Dionysus | 193 BC [49] | 18.5 m × 35 m (61 ft × 115 ft) | Ionic temple, [49] architect: Hermogenes of Priene, was peripteral hexastyle with 11 columns at the sides. The columns were set on plinths and there was a frieze of Dyonisiac scenes. [54] | |
Naxos | Naxos (Greece) 37°01′45″N25°25′53″E / 37.02911111°N 25.43127778°E | Temple of Sangri (Demeter) | 530 BC | Ionic | ||
Anthela | Lamia (Greece) | Temple of Demeter Amphictyonis | before 5th century BC | |||
Gorneas [55] | Garni (Armenia) 40°06′45″N44°43′49″E / 40.112421°N 44.730277°E | Temple of Garni Mithra (Mihr) | 77 AD – 175 AD [56] [57] | Ionic temple or mausoleum/tomb; [58] [59] hexastyle with 8 columns at the sides. [60] | ||
Alexandria | Alexandria (Egypt) | Temple of Serapis | c. 246 BC – 221 BC [61] | c. 13 m x 23 m (foundations) [61] | According to numismatic evidence, the temple had Corinthian exterior columns (at least four across the front) and a Doric frieze. It was destroyed by a fire, reportedly in 181 AD, and replaced with a larger Roman temple. [61] | |
A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. The term column applies especially to a large round support with a capital and a base or pedestal, which is made of stone, or appearing to be so. A small wooden or metal support is typically called a post. Supports with a rectangular or other non-round section are usually called piers.
An order in architecture is a certain assemblage of parts subject to uniform established proportions, regulated by the office that each part has to perform. Coming down to the present from Ancient Greek and Ancient Roman civilization, the architectural orders are the styles of classical architecture, each distinguished by its proportions and characteristic profiles and details, and most readily recognizable by the type of column employed. The three orders of architecture—the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian—originated in Greece. To these the Romans added, in practice if not in name, the Tuscan, which they made simpler than Doric, and the Composite, which was more ornamental than the Corinthian. The architectural order of a classical building is akin to the mode or key of classical music; the grammar or rhetoric of a written composition. It is established by certain modules like the intervals of music, and it raises certain expectations in an audience attuned to its language.
The Parthenon is a former temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, that was dedicated to the goddess Athena. Its decorative sculptures are considered some of the high points of classical Greek art, and the Parthenon is considered an enduring symbol of Ancient Greece, democracy, and Western civilization.
The Corinthian order is the last developed and most ornate of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order, which was the earliest, followed by the Ionic order. In Ancient Greek architecture, the Corinthian order follows the Ionic in almost all respects, other than the capitals of the columns, though this changed in Roman architecture.
Ancient Greek architecture came from the Greeks, or Hellenes, whose culture flourished on the Greek mainland, the Peloponnese, the Aegean Islands, and in colonies in Anatolia and Italy for a period from about 900 BC until the 1st century AD, with the earliest remaining architectural works dating from around 600 BC.
The Doric order is one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of the columns. Originating in the western Doric region of Greece, it is the earliest and, in its essence, the simplest of the orders, though still with complex details in the entablature above.
The Ionic order is one of the three canonic orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric and the Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan, and the rich variant of Corinthian called the composite order. Of the three classical canonic orders, the Corinthian order has the narrowest columns, followed by the Ionic order, with the Doric order having the widest columns.
The Erechtheion or Temple of Athena Polias is an ancient Greek Ionic temple on the north side of the Acropolis, Athens, which was primarily dedicated to the goddess Athena.
In architecture, the capital or chapiter forms the topmost member of a column. It mediates between the column and the load thrusting down upon it, broadening the area of the column's supporting surface. The capital, projecting on each side as it rises to support the abacus, joins the usually square abacus and the usually circular shaft of the column. The capital may be convex, as in the Doric order; concave, as in the inverted bell of the Corinthian order; or scrolling out, as in the Ionic order. These form the three principal types on which all capitals in the classical tradition are based.
In architecture, an abacus is a flat slab forming the uppermost member or division of the capital of a column, above the bell. Its chief function is to provide a large supporting surface, tending to be wider than the capital, as an abutment to receive the weight of the arch or the architrave above. The diminutive of abacus, abaculus, is used to describe small mosaic tiles, also called abaciscus or tessera, used to create ornamental floors with detailed patterns of chequers or squares in a tessellated pavement.
Greek temples were structures built to house deity statues within Greek sanctuaries in ancient Greek religion. The temple interiors did not serve as meeting places, since 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 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.
Nemea is an ancient site in the northeastern part of the Peloponnese, in Greece. Formerly part of the territory of Cleonae in ancient Argolis, it is today situated in the regional unit of Corinthia. The small village of Archaia Nemea is immediately southwest of the archaeological site, while the new town of Nemea lies to the west.
Bassae is an archaeological site in Oichalia, a municipality in the northeastern part of Messenia, Greece. In classical antiquity, it was part of Arcadia. Bassae lies near the village of Skliros, northeast of Figaleia, south of Andritsaina and west of Megalopolis. It is famous for the well-preserved mid- to late-5th century BC Temple of Apollo Epicurius.
This page is a glossary of architecture.
The Old Temple of Athena or the Archaios Neos was an archaic Greek limestone Doric temple on the Acropolis of Athens probably built in the second half of the sixth-century BCE, and which housed the xoanon of Athena Polias. The existence of an archaic temple to Athena had long been conjectured from literary references until the discovery of substantial building foundations under the raised terrace between the Erechtheion and Parthenon in 1886 confirmed it. While it is uncontroversial that a temple stood on the central acropolis terrace in the late archaic period and was burnt down in the Persian invasion of 480, nevertheless questions of its nature, name, reconstruction and duration remain unresolved.
Fluting in architecture and the decorative arts consists of shallow grooves running along a surface. The term typically refers to the curved grooves (flutes) running vertically on a column shaft or a pilaster, but is not restricted to those two applications. If the scoops taken out of the material meet in a sharp ridge, the ridge is called an arris. If the raised ridge between two flutes appears flat, the ridge is a fillet. Fluted columns are common in the tradition of classical architecture but were not invented by the ancient Greeks, but rather passed down or learned from the Mycenaeans or the Egyptians.
Ancient Greek art stands out among that of other ancient cultures for its development of naturalistic but idealized depictions of the human body, in which largely nude male figures were generally the focus of innovation. The rate of stylistic development between about 750 and 300 BC was remarkable by ancient standards, and in surviving works is best seen in sculpture. There were important innovations in painting, which have to be essentially reconstructed due to the lack of original survivals of quality, other than the distinct field of painted pottery.
A tholos, in Latin tholus, is a form of building that was widely used in the classical world. It is a round structure with a circular wall and a roof, usually built upon a couple of steps, and often with a ring of columns supporting a conical or domed roof.
Kardaki Temple is an Archaic Doric temple in Corfu, Greece, built around 500 BC in the ancient city of Korkyra, in what is known today as the location Kardaki in the hill of Analipsi in Corfu. The temple features several architectural peculiarities that point to a Doric origin. The temple at Kardaki is unusual because it has no frieze, following perhaps architectural tendencies of Sicilian temples. It is considered to be the only Greek temple of Doric architecture that does not have a frieze. The spacing of the temple columns has been described as "abnormally wide". The temple also lacked both porch and adyton, and the lack of a triglyph and metope frieze may be indicative of Ionian influence. The temple at Kardaki is considered an important and to a certain degree mysterious topic on the subject of early ancient Greek architecture. Its association with the worship of Apollo or Poseidon has not been established.
The Propylaia is the classical Greek Doric building complex that functioned as the monumental ceremonial gateway to the Acropolis of Athens. Built between 437 and 432 BC as a part of the Periklean Building Program, it was the last in a series of gatehouses built on the citadel. Its architect was Mnesikles, his only known building. It is evident from traces left on the extant building that the plan for the Propylaia evolved considerably during its construction, and that the project was ultimately abandoned in an unfinished state.