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
I. AEGEAN PERIOD (MINOAN)
• 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
I. AEGEAN PERIOD (MINOAN)
• 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
I. AEGEAN PERIOD (MINOAN)

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.
II. HELLENIC PERIOD (MYCENEAN)
II. HELLENIC PERIOD (MYCENEAN)
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