ARTHIS

ARHIST11 HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE 1
Prepared by:
A Self-regulated Learning Module
Arch. Divina Ligaya Benigno- A Self-regulated Learning Module i
Rillera, MACT, MAEHP
Table of Contents
Table of Contents ....................................................................................................................... ii
Introduction ................................................................................................................................ iii
Course Requirements................................................................................................................. v
Assignment Schedule ................................................................................................................. ii
Course Content .......................................................................................................................... 1
Topic 1. INTRODUCTION TO ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY .............................................. 1
Topic 2. INTRODUCTION TO PREHISTORIC ARCHITECTURE ....................................... 8
Topic 3. WEST ASIATIC ARCHITECTURE/ARCHITECTURE OF THE ANCIENT NEAR

EAST .................................................................................................................. 14
Topic 4. EGYPTIAN ARCHITECTURE ............................................................................. 23
Topic 5. A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF ANCIENT NEAR EAST AND EGYPTIAN

ARCHITECTURE: A SUPPLEMENT ................................................................. 40
Topic 6. AEGEAN AND GREEK ARCHITECTURE ........................................................... 47
Topic 7. TUSCAN AND ROMAN ARCHITECTURE .......................................................... 67
Topic 8. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS: GREECE AND ROMAN ARCHITECTURE: A

SUPPLEMENT ................................................................................................... 86
Topic 9. EARLY CHRISTIAN ARCHITECTURE................................................................ 93
Topic 10. BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE ......................................................................... 102
Topic 11. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS: EARLY CHRISTIAN AND BYZANTINE

ARCHITECTURE: A SUPPLEMENT ............................................................... 112
Reading Materials ...................................................................................................................... 1
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Introduction
I. Course Information
Course Code: ARHIST11
Course Title: HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE 1
Number of Units: 3 Lec
Contact Hours: 3 lec hr
II. Course Description
The architectural history traces the changes in architecture through various traditions, regions,
overarching stylistic trends, and dates. It is the study of architecture as it has evolved over
centuries across many different landscapes and cultures. Reaching back to the Ancient
Mesopotamians, the Egyptians, Greek civilizations, and more, architectural history is a global
history. The study of architectural history includes religious architecture, landscape
architecture, civil architecture, naval architecture, and military architecture - each offering
insight into the role of history, culture, and geography in shaping the world. An understanding
of architectural history can help the BS Architecture Program students familiarize themselves
with architectural influences, including the character or styles that were used during those
periods which they can apply to their architectural design subjects and other courses.
History of Architecture is a ladder-type course where it is subdivided into four parts. History of
Architecture 1 will cover the Prehistoric era up to the Byzantine period. This module will help
the students and encourage them to discover the mutual reinforcement of culture and
architecture reflected in the thoughts of the times that will be covered. It will also give the
students sufficient insights into the history of the human community with special emphasis on
the shelters built during those times. And finally, this module will give the student analytic
procedures in assimilating relevant design goals set in history and their relevance to current
and continuing streams of thoughts brought about by situations in history.
III. Course Learning Competencies
At the end of the semester, the students are expected to have:
1. Gained an understanding of the evolution of architecture from the Prehistoric era to the
Byzantine period.
2. Distinguished a particular style from another between the coverage of the course.
3. Produced a comparative analysis of the architectural style during the periods covered.
IV. Learning Outcomes: Upon completion of the course, you should be able to :
A. Cognitive Domain
 Gain an understanding of the evolution of architecture from the pre-historic era to the
Byzantine period
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 Distinguish a particular historical style from another between the coverage of the
course.
B. Affective Domain
 Understand the importance of the history of architecture in the field of architectural
design.
 Recognize the influence of historical styles and features on modern and contemporary
architecture.
C. Psychomotor Domain
 Illustrate the architectural features and examples specific to each historical period and
style.
V. Study Schedule
This module is divided into eight (8) modules spread over five (5) months. Each of the module
topics will have its learning and assessment activities. You are required to accomplish each
of the activities and substantially contribute to discussion forums within the given module
period.
The module topic schedule is as follows:
Topic Time Frame
Introduction to the Architectural History 1 week

Prehistoric Architecture 1 week
History of the Ancient Near East 2 weeks
Egyptian Architecture 2 weeks
Greek Architecture 4 weeks
Roman Architecture 3 weeks
Early Christian Architecture 1 week
Byzantine Architecture 1 week
Total 15 weeks
VI. The Course Module Organization

Each module topic is organized as follows:
1. Pre-Lecture Activity and Discussion Forum
2. Discussion Proper
3. Synthesis Activity
a. Reflection Questions and Discussion Forum
b. Online Quiz
c. Topic Module Assessment
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Course Requirements
This instructional material is organized according to the required instructions, suggested readings,
and activities for the course. You are required to go over the material in sequence and accomplish
the learning activities identified within the specified period. This instructional material is designed
to guide you to finish the course over the semester or 36 weeks. The final output of this course
is an architectural program for a beach cottage applying the concepts and principles of designing
in the tropics.
I. As part of the course requirements, you are required to:
1. Update your CANVAS and s.ubaguio.edu account with a recent photograph.
2. Be members of the course group chat in messenger using your SURNAME, GIVEN
NAME, AND MIDDLE INITIAL (E.g., DELA CRUZ, FRANCISCA D.).
3. Upload a 1 - 2-minute video to introduce yourself and your expectation of the course.
4. Attend synchronous classes regularly. Attendance will be checked and you are required
to turn on your cameras during class hours.
5. Actively participate in discussion forums for individual course topics.
a. The Discussion Forum (DF) shall answer the questions relevant to the current
topic. DF contributions shall not be more than 150 words and will be graded based
on their relevance.
b. The Discussion Forum Responses (DFR) shall be reflections on the answers of at
least two (2) classmates and shall not be more than 100 words and will be graded
based on their relevance. You are required to identify your classmates whose
answers you are reflecting on or reacting to.
c. You are expected to observe proper etiquette in all forum contributions.
6. Regularly check the CANVAS or FB Messenger account for announcements.
7. Submit all online requirements using the file name: SURNAME_FIRST NAME
INITIAL_TOPIC (e.g., DELA CRUZ_J_SELF INTRODUCTION). Deductions will be
given to non-conforming submissions.
8. Submit all requirements on or before stated deadlines. Deadlines for online submissions
will be set during the scheduled class hour.
9. Submit ALL LATE requirements one week before the scheduled grading exam to be
graded and credited as part of the school work. A late penalty per every day of late
submission will be imposed. The maximum grade for late requirements submitted one
week before the grading exam will be 70% of the total score. Any submissions turned
in after the grading term will not be considered.
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10. Identify all references used for ALL coursework submissions. Plagiarism will not be
tolerated in all manners of submitted requirements. Use the APA Referencing Format
to cite all lifted and borrowed ideas for research works and written outputs.
11. Produce collegiate-worthy outputs, which can either be manually done or computer
generated. You are required to submit your outputs using shareable links, with me as
an EDITOR from your Google Drives in the appropriate submission bins or using PDF
or clear JPEG files only.
12. Obtain a minimum 70% mark on all required activities to pass the course.
13. Quizzes and term examinations shall be administered on CANVAS. The student is
required to log in to the Google Meet link during the scheduled examination and shall
turn on their videos and microphones. During summative assessments (e.g., quizzes
and exams), remember that you are testing what you have learned; thus, the highest
degree of honesty and integrity is expected.
14. Have all accomplishment checks and attendance checks on cam and voice. Demerits
will be given otherwise.
15. Use your corporate uniform during the lecture day, and every scheduled on-class project
presentation
II. The Grading rubrics for all activities will be as follows:

GRADING CRITERIA
4 3 2 1
(76 – 100%) (51 - 75%) (25 – 50%) (0 - 24%)
Advanced, Excellent, Proficient, Satisfactory, Basic, Fair, Marginal, Poor, Unacceptable,
Very Good, Excellent, Good, Acceptable Borderline Non-Compliance
Full Compliance
a. Creative Output (e.g., posters, graphic organizers)

DESCRIPTION
Creativity. The output should clearly express and organize ideas and concepts through drawings
and illustrations.
Aesthetics. The output should consider the visually pleasing arrangement of the elements of the
composition.
Architectural Presentation. The output should reflect the proper architectural graphical
presentation of design ideas and concepts, whether manual or computer-generated.
Completeness. The output should comply with all the requirements of the activity.
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b. Written Output (e.g., essays, reaction paper, responses to the forum)
DESCRIPTION
Content. Essays and answers to questions should be relevant, clear, and comprehensive.
Organization. Essays and answers to questions should be focused and logical.
Writing Style: Grammar, Punctuation. This pertains to grammar, punctuation, typographical
errors, and the general tone of the written work.
III. Course Activities and Output Requirements

The following are the course requirements
1. Graphic Organizers
2. Posters and Infographics
3. Reading Assignments
4. End of module topic assessment.
Accomplish the end of module topic assessment. Marked as complete once submitted.
With 4 as the highest and 1 as the lowest, rate each identified criteria. A link will be given
where you can mark your self-assessment after each module.
Criteria 4 3 2 1
Level of effort you placed in this module.

The difficulty in completing the course.
Contribution of the course to your skills/knowledge
on the topic.
Clarity of learning objectives.
Organization and planning of the module
Appropriateness of workload
Participation of learners in the activities
5. Student E. Portfolio.
Submit a learners’ e-portfolio, which will be uploaded at the end of the semester. You
can use sites.google.com to organize your compilations. Share a link of your e-portfolio
during accomplishment checks every scheduled grading examination week only.
The e-portfolio shall contain:
a. Cover Page
b. Introduction page (Talk about yourself, your interest in the program, and the
course/subject)
c. Summary of all graded outputs in table form.
d. Compilation of graded course works supported with relevant screen captures.
e. Provide brief descriptions for each activity and briefly recall what you have learned
from the activity.
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6. Student’s Learning Assessment.
You are required to answer the following questions qualitatively at the end of the term as
a part of the final e-portfolio submission. A link will be provided where you can encode
your self-assessments.
a. Did I work as hard as I could have? Yes? No? Why?
b. Did I set and maintain high standards for myself? Yes? No? Why?
c. Did I spend enough time doing quality work? Yes? No? Why?
d. Did I prioritize and manage my time properly to complete my work? Yes? No? Why?
e. Did I make good use of available resources? Yes? No? Why?
f. Did I ask questions when I needed to? Yes? No? Why?
g. Did I evaluate and re-evaluate my work for possible errors? Yes? No? Why?
h. Did I examine best practices for similar works? Yes? No? Why?
i. Are my works something that I am proud of and would proudly show to a larger
audience? Yes? No? Why?
7. Accomplish a course module assessment at the end of the semester. Marked complete
once submitted. A link will be provided where you can encode your self-assessments.
a. What lesson or activity did I enjoy most? Why?
b. What is the most important lesson which I can apply in my daily life? Why?
c. What are the new insights/discoveries that I learned?
d. What topic/s do I find the least important?
e. What possible topics should have been included?
8. Computation of grades shall be as follows:
a. Class Standing (CS) = 60%
20% - Quizzes
10% - Attendance
15% - Student Outputs/Activity
15% - Discussion/Reflection Board Answers
b. Examination (EX) = 40%
30% - Exam
10% - E-Portfolio Accomplishment
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Assignment Schedule
Topic Time Frame
Topic 1. Introduction to Architectural History Week 1
Pre-Lecture Activity
1. Learning Resource: Answer the question based on the learning
resource.
Watch:
Archemedys (2015, June 30). History of Architecture. Retrieved
from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VLBuYq_JYc
2. Student Activity: Infographic Poster
a. Choose one (1) term/concept associated with the development of
architecture. Look for the definition of the term and provide
illustrations as examples.
b. List the term you chose on the discussion board. Review the
terms submitted before you to avoid duplication. Repeated
works will not be given credit.
c. Place your answers on one (1) slide presentation with your name
on it.
d. Submit your output in the Assignment Board provided.
e. Indicate your references in your presentation. Use APA citation
format.
Synthesis Activity
1. Reflection Question: Give one (1) importance of studying notable
architectural examples throughout history. Why do you say so?
Support your discussions with one or two photographs.
2. Discussion Forum: Read two (2) of your classmates’ works. Do
you agree with their answers? Why? Why not?
3. Test what you have learned
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Topic 2. Prehistoric Architecture Week 2 – 3
resource.
Watch:
Age Of Cosmology - Ep: 3 | The World of Stonehenge | BBC
Documentary from the link https://youtu.be/aDss6QRRG-c
a. Choose one (1) term/concept associated with Prehistoric

architecture. Look for the definition of the term and provide
on it.
format.
Synthesis Activity
1. Reflection Question: Give one piece of evidence of the influence

of Prehistoric architecture on the development of modern
architecture. Why do you say so? Support your discussions with
one or two photographs.
Topic 3. West Asiatic Architecture: Mesopotamian Architecture Week 4 – 5

resource.
Watch: Ancient Mesopotamia.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNkEDbZ8zF0
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a. Choose one (1) term/concept associated with West Asiatic

Architecture. Look for the definition of the term and provide
terms submitted before you to avoid duplication.
Repeated works will not be given credit.
c. Place your answers on one (1) slide presentation with your
name on it.
format.
Synthesis Activity

of West Asiatic architecture on the development of modern
architecture. Why do you say so? Support your discussions with one
or two photographs.
First Grading Exam

Submission of E-Portfolio Accomplishment
Topic 4. Egyptian Architecture Week 6 – 7
resource.
Watch:
Why Did The Egyptians Stop Building Pyramids? | Immortal Egypt |

Timeline. Source: https://youtu.be/k3QiW0gEpYM

a. Choose one (1) term/concept associated with Egyptian
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on it.
format.
Synthesis Activity
of Egyptian architecture on the development of modern architecture.
Why do you say so?
Topic 5. Aegean and Greek Architecture Week 8 - 10
resource.
Watch: Ancient Greece 101 | National Geographic. Source:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8A0LpX7_yMandfeature=emb_
rel_end

name on it.
format.
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Synthesis Activity
1. Reflection Question: Give one piece of evidence of the influence of

Aegean and Greek architecture on the development of modern
Midterm Exam
Submission of E-Portfolio Accomplishment
Topic 6. Etruscan and Roman Architecture Week 11 – 13
resource.
Watch: History of Rome – Documentary. Source:
https://youtu.be/WKpQRXdvAqM
on it.
format.
Synthesis Activity
1. Reflection Question: Give one piece of evidence of the influence of
Etruscan and Roman architecture on the development of modern
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3. Test what you have learned: Online Quiz – 20 points
Topic 7. Early Christian Architecture Week 14
resource.
Watch: Early Christian Art History. Source:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Odtoyhc6tEM

terms submitted before you to avoid duplication.
Repeated works will not be given credit.
name on it.
e. Indicate your references in your presentation. Use APA
citation format.
Synthesis Activity

of Early Christian architecture on the development of modern
Topic 8. Byzantine Architecture Week 15
resource.
Watch: Hagia Sophia, Istanbul. Source:

https://youtu.be/XfpusWEd2jE
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name on it.
format.
Synthesis Activity

of Byzantine architecture on the development of modern
Final Exam
Submission of Complete E-Portfolio
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Course Content
Topic 1. INTRODUCTION TO ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY
Objective: At the end of the lesson, you should:
1. Know the common technical terms used in the study of architectural style.
2. Identify the different influential factors in the evolution of architectural character and style.
3. Appreciate the importance of studying the history of architecture in the context of the growth,
development, and evolution of styles.
4. Appreciate the beauty and uniqueness of the different styles of architecture.
5. Illustrate the characteristic features of the various architectural styles discussed.
Pre-Lecture Activity:
1. Learning Resource:
Archemedys (2015, June 30). History of Architecture. Retrieved
from https://youtu.be/4VLBuYq_JYc

a. Choose one (1) term/concept associated with the development of architecture. Look for
the definition of the term and provide illustrations as examples.
b. List the term you chose on the discussion board. Review the terms submitted before
you to avoid duplication. Repeated works will not be given credit.
c. Place your answers on one (1) slide presentation with your name on it.
e. Indicate your references in your presentation. Use APA citation format.
Discussion
I. Definition of Terms
1. Architecture
 the art and science of buildings. – It refers to the process of designing buildings
and administering their construction.
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 the practice of building design and its resulting products customarily those
buildings and structures that are culturally significant. – It refers to the buildings
that are products of architectural design.
 is the art and science of designing and constructing buildings. – It refers to both
the process and product of design and construction.
2. Culturally Significant Buildings by Vitruvius
 It must be functional and have a use.
 It must be technically sound.
 It must express ideas of beauty or aesthetics.
3. History of Architecture
 is the record of man’s effort to build beautifully.
 traces the origin, growth, and decline of architectural styles which have prevailed
over land and ages.
4. Historic Styles of Architecture - are the particular method, characteristics, and
manner of design that prevails at a certain place and time.
5. History - a systematic often chronological narrative of significant events relating to a
particular people, country, or period, often including an explanation of their causes.
6. History of Architecture - it is a record of man’s effort to build beautifully. It traces the
origin, growth, and decline of architectural styles, which have prevailed in lands and
ages.
7. Civilization - is an advanced state of human society marked by a relatively high level
of cultural, technical, and political development.
8. Society - an enduring and cooperating large-scale community of people having
common traditions, institutions, and entities, whose members have developed
collective interests and beliefs through interaction with one another.
9. Culture - the integrated pattern of human knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors built up
by a group of human beings and transmitted from one congregation to the next.
10. Style - a particular or distinctive form of artistic expression characteristic of a person,
people, or period.
11. Expression - how meaning, spirit, or character is symbolized or communicated in the
execution of artistic work.
II. Forces that Shape Buildings
A. Owner – providing the specific requirements for the building.
B. Architect/Builder – with professional training and judgment

C. Society – provides the concept of good and bad design and the concept of beauty
D. Governments – control and regulate the development of all buildings
E. Site and Location – nature of the site and geographical location
F. Technical Aspect – available materials, knowledge of construction systems and
structures.
III. Architectural Influences
The particular design of a building, from planning to walling, columns, openings as doors
and windows, roofing, moldings, and ornaments, all of these designs are influenced by the
following factors:
1. Geographical - pinpoints the location of a particular country. It describes whether it is
near the sea, an island, on the mountains, deserts, and others.
2. Geological - describes the materials found in the locality. The character and
composition of the earth and the contour of the ground. Materials like stones, trees,
reeds, bamboo, clay for bricks, marble, and metals, all influence the character of the
buildings.
3. Climatic - the prevailing weather in the country. If there is much sunshine or little rain,
if there are winters with much snow, these affect the character (e.g. roofing of a country
with snow should be steep to ward off the snow, while the windows in cold climates
should be wide to permit light to enter the warm rooms).
4. Religion - this is the emotional temperament and spiritual tendencies of the people in
a particular country. If they are pagans, they build temples for numerous gods, if they
are Christians they build churches with altars. Muslims build mosques.
5. Historical - the background of the people as a whole. Were there wars in the past? If
so, buildings would have been ruined and new structures built.
6. Social and Political - how the people lived and governed. Whether they are hostile,
friendly, ruled by a king, or under democratic rule.
IV. Architectural Character / Style
An architectural style is characterized by the features that make a building or other structure
notable or historically identifiable. A style may include such elements as form, method of
construction, building materials, and regional character.
The character of architecture in the different parts of the world is influenced by its
geography or location. It may be near the sea or in the mountains. Next is the climate where
the style of architecture in cold areas is different from those in warm or arid climates, but
the one that influences everything else in architecture is the availability of materials or in
this case, the geological conditions of the country. Almost everything can be used in

building from sticks, and stone to tin sheets.
But it is the readily available materials that
have the most profound effect on architecture
all over the world. The basic materials are
relatively simple - stone, clay, wood, skins,
grass, leaves, sand, and water. Until about Post and Lintel Construction
two hundred years ago such materials and
their ready availability dictated to a large
extent the local vernacular architecture of any
region. However, with the development of
communications and transportation,
vernacular architecture died - a victim of the
industrial revolution as new materials are now Arch and Vault Construction
manufactured then shipped and brought to the
building site.
V. Four Great Construction Principles
1. Post and Lintel Construction - (also
called prop and lintel or a trabeated
Corbel Construction
system) is a building system where
strong horizontal elements are held up
by strong vertical elements with large
spaces between them
2. Arch and Vault Construction - a
three-dimensional arched ceiling
construction to support a floor or roof,
often of masonry. Cantilever Construction
3. Corbel or Cantilever Construction -

A cantilever is a rigid structural
element that extends horizontally and is
supported at only one end. Typically it
extends from a flat vertical surface such
as a wall, to which it must be firmly Trussed Construction
attached. Corbel, in architecture,
bracket or weight-carrying member,
built deeply into the wall so that the

pressure on its embedded portion counteracts any tendency to overturn or fall
outward. The name derives from a French word meaning crow, because of
the corbel's beaklike shape.
4. Trussed Construction - A truss is a structure that takes advantage of the inherent
geometric stability of the triangle to evenly distribute weight and handle changing
tension and compression.
VI. Architectural Timeline
1. Prehistoric Architecture - before recorded history, humans constructed earthen

mounds, stone circles, megaliths, and structures that often puzzle modern-day
archaeologists. Prehistoric architecture includes monumental structures such as
Stonehenge, cliff dwellings in the Americas, and thatch and mud structures lost to
time.
2. Ancient Egypt - in ancient Egypt, powerful rulers constructed monumental
pyramids, temples, and shrines. Far from primitive, enormous structures such as
the pyramids of Giza were feats of engineering capable of reaching great heights.
3. Mesopotamia - West Asiatic Architecture flourished and developed in the twin
rivers “Tigris and Euphrates” also known as “Mesopotamia”, which refers to Persia,
Assyria, and Babylon.
4. Classical (Greek and Roman) - from the rise of ancient Greece until the fall of the
Roman empire, great buildings were constructed according to precise rules. The
“classical orders” which defined column styles and entablature designs, continue to
influence building design in modern times.

5. Byzantine - after Constantine moved the capital of the Roman empire to Byzantium
(now called Istanbul) in 330 AD, Roman architecture evolved into a graceful,
classically-inspired style that used brick instead of stone, domed roofs, elaborate
mosaics, and classical forms.
6. Romanesque - as Rome spread across Europe, heavier, stocky Romanesque
architecture with rounded arches emerged. Churches and castles of the early
Medieval period were constructed with thick walls and heavy piers.
7. Gothic - pointed arches, ribbed vaulting, flying buttresses, and other innovations
led to taller more graceful architecture. Gothic ideas gave rise to magnificent
cathedrals like Chartres and Notre Dame.
8. Renaissance - a return to classical ideas ushered an “age of awakening” in Italy,
France, and England. Andrea Palladio and other builders looked at the classical
orders of ancient Greece and Rome. Long after the Renaissance era ended,
architects in the western world found inspiration in the beautifully proportioned
architecture of the period.
9. Baroque - in Italy, the Baroque style is reflected in opulent and dramatic churches
with irregular shapes and extravagant ornamentation. In France, the highly
ornamented Baroque style combines with classical restraint. Russian aristocrats
were impressed by Versailles in France and incorporated Baroque ideas in the
building of St. Petersburg. Elements of the elaborate Baroque style are found
throughout Europe.
10. Rococo - during the last phase of the Baroque period, builders constructed graceful
white buildings with sweeping curves. These Rococo buildings are elegantly
decorated with scrolls, vines, shell shapes, and delicate geometric patterns.
11. Neoclassicism - a keen interest in the ideas of Renaissance architect Andrea
Palladio inspired a return of classical shapes in Europe, Great Britain, and the
United States. These buildings were proportioned according to the classical orders
with details
borrowed from ancient Greece and Rome.
12. Beaux Arts - also known as Beaux Arts Classicism, or Classical Revival, Beaux
Arts architecture is characterized by order, symmetry, formal design, grandiosity,
and elaborate ornamentation.
13. Neo-Gothic - in the early twentieth century, Gothic ideas were applied to modern
buildings. Gargoyles, arched windows, and other medieval details ornamented
soaring skyscrapers.

14. Art Deco - zigzag patterns and vertical lines create a dramatic effect on jazz-age,
art deco buildings. Interestingly, many art deco motifs were inspired by the
architecture of ancient Egypt.
15. Modernist style - the 20th and 21st centuries have seen dramatic changes and
astonishing diversity. Modern-day trends include Arte Moderne and the Bauhaus
School coined by Walter Gropius, Deconstructivism, Formalism, Modernism, and
Structuralism.
16. Postmodernism - a reaction against the modernist approaches gave rise to new
buildings that reinvented historical details and familiar motifs. Look closely at these
architectural movements and you are likely to find ideas that date back to classical
and ancient times.
Synthesis Activity
1. Reflection Question: Give one (1) importance of studying notable architectural examples
throughout history. Why do you say so? Support your discussions with one or two
photographs.
2. Discussion Forum: Read two (2) of your classmates’ works. Do you agree with their
answers? Why? Why not?
References
Ching, F. D. K (1995). A visual dictionary of architecture. USA: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.
Espina, K. (2014). History of architecture. Retrieved from https://doksi.net/get.php?lid=23342
Macaso, J. A. (2018). Imhotep tables. Retrieved
fromhttps://www.academia.edu/34447660/IMHOTEP_Tables_by_KD_-_V.05.05_1_
Salvan, G. S. (1986). Architectural character and the history of architecture. Quezon City,
Philippines: JMC Press, Inc.

Topic 2. INTRODUCTION TO PREHISTORIC ARCHITECTURE
1. Know the common technical terms used in the studies of architectural style.
2. Appreciate the importance of studying prehistoric architecture.
3. Illustrate the characteristic features of prehistoric architecture.
1. Learning Resource: Answer the question based on the reading resource.

Watch: Age of Cosmology - Ep: 3 | The World of Stonehenge | BBC Documentary.
Source: https://youtu.be/aDss6QRRG-c
a. Choose one (1) term/concept associated with West Asiatic Architecture. Look for the
definition of the term and provide illustrations as examples.
b. List the term you chose on the discussion board. Review the terms submitted
before you to avoid duplication. Repeated works will not be given credit.
3. Discussion Forum: Read two (2) of your classmates’ works. What can you learn from
their answers? Why do you say so?
Discussion
I. Facts about Prehistoric

Architecture
1. Prehistoric Architecture -
of, about, or existing in the
time before the recording of
human events, knowledge
of which is gained mainly
through archaeological
discoveries, study, and
research.

2. Stone age - the earliest known period of human culture, preceding the bronze age and
the iron age and characterized by the use of stone implements (equipment) and
weapons.
3. Paleolithic (Latin. Paleo means old) - of, or relating to the earliest period of the stone
age characterized by rough or chipped stone implements.
4. Mesolithic (Latin. Meso means middle or between) - of, relating to, or being a
transitional period of the stone age between the paleolithic and the neolithic.
5. Neolithic (Latin. Neo means new) - of, or relating to the latest period of the stone age
characterized by polished stone implements.
6. Bronze age - a period of human history that began c4,000-3,000 BC, following the
Stone age and preceding the Iron age, characterized by the use of bronze implements.
Iron age - the period of a human culture characterized by the smelting (casting) of iron
and its use in industry beginning somewhat before 1,000 BC in western Asia and Egypt.
II. Architectural Influences
1. The Beginnings of Architecture
Architecture had a simple origin in the primitive endeavors of mankind. It is an ancient
and necessary art thus the beginnings of architecture are part of prehistory. Placed
within the Neolithic age, the new stone age which lasted roughly from 8,000 to 3,000
BC before the Neolithic age, man often used existing caves for shelter. As man was a
hunter and food gatherer, he also constructed temporary shelters from perishable
materials.
2. Influences to Architecture
a. Geographical Influence
Humans could not settle far
north due to the cold
climate, thus, they spread
from Africa into southern
Europe and Asia. Spread by
foot from Siberia into North
America and by boat from
southeast Asia to Australia.
Before 9,000 BC they had a
nomadic lifestyle of hunting
and food gathering, farming, and agriculture was also practiced which led to the
production of food and the fertility of the soil. Animal domestication became work

and started the production of milk and wool. Some people did not farm so they
spent time on other work such as pot-making, metal-working, art, and architecture.
People wanted to settle down and
live within communities. The first
villages were
found in the middle east, south
America, central America, India,
and China.
b. Geological Influence
The success of the human race was largely due to the development of tools - made
of stone, wood, and bone.
c. Religious Influence
There is no organized religion and
the dead are treated with respect -
through burial rituals and
monuments.
d. Geologic and Building Materials

The materials used include animal skins, wooden frames, and animal bones. While
their construction system used existing excavated caves and megalithic, most
evident in France, England, and Ireland.
e. Man’s Needs
 Shelter
 Protection
 From elements of nature
 From wild animals
 Comfort
 To sleep and rest
 Survival
 Food shortage
 Perpetuation of human life

III. Architectural Character/Style
1. Nomadic Communities - Hunter-gatherers
were prehistoric nomadic groups that harnessed
the use of fire, developed an intricate knowledge
of plant life, and refined technology for hunting
and domestic purposes as they spread from
Africa to Asia, Europe, and beyond.
2. Agricultural Society - The development of
agricultural about 12,000 years ago changed the
way humans lived. They switched from nomadic
hunter-gatherer lifestyles to permanent settlements
and farming.
IV. Architectural Examples
1. Megalith (Latin. Lith means stone, mega
means large or great) - a very large stone used
as found or roughly dressed, especially in
ancient construction work, utilizing an
interlocking system without the use of mortar or
cement.
a. Dolmen/Cromlech - 2 or more upright
stones supporting a stone or slab (e.g.
Passage Tomb, Ireland; Wedge Tomb, Ireland; and Portal Tomb, Ireland).
b. Stone circle - e.g. Stonehenge, England; Avebury Henge, England, Stone Circle
Tomb, Ireland; and Court Tomb, Ireland).
c. Stone Row - e.g. Merrivale Stone Row, England; Goles Stone Row, N. Ireland; and
Down Tor Stone Row, England
2. Monolith or Menhir - great upright stone, a single block of stone of considerable size,
often in the form of an old obelisk or column.
3. Trilithon - two upright megaliths supporting a horizontal stone slab. Also
called trilith.
4. Prehistoric Religious Structures
a. Chairn (Cairn) - a heap of stones piled up as a monument, tombstone, or
landmark. Also, cairn.
b. Barrow (Tumuli) - earthen mound for burials.

5. Prehistoric Dwellings
Shelter - sometimes beneath,
behind, or within which a
person is protected from storms
or other adverse conditions.
a. Rock shelter - is a shallow
cave-like opening at the
base of a bluff or cliff. Rock
shelters form because a
rock stratum such as
sandstone that is resistant
to erosion and weathering
formed a cliff or bluff. Many
rock shelters are found
under waterfalls.
b. Cave - e.g. natural cave,
artificial cave, and cave
above the ground.
c. Cliff Dwelling - Guyaju
Cliff Dwelling, China; Los
Alamos, New Mexico; Les
Eyzies de Tayac, France;
and Kandovan, Iran.
d. Hut - huts vary in construction and build underground, on the ground and above
the ground (huts on a tree and stilts). E.g. Beehive Hut, Ireland; Khirokitia, Cyprus;
Catal Huyuk, Anatolia; Amsa-Dong Prehistoric Huts, S. Korea; Verzamelaars,
Netherlands; Apache Wickiup; Native American Wigwam; Prehistoric Mammoth
Bone Hut; Eskimo Igloo, Alaska; and Underground Hut, Pierowall, Orkney.
e. Tent - e.g. Native American Tipi
Synthesis Activity
Create an infographic poster showing the various factors affecting the historical
development of architecture. Use a 15” x 20” paper size. On a separate paper, write a brief

description of you’re the main concept/theme of your project. Indicate ALL the references
you used in your work. Use the APA reference formatting.
2. Reflection Question: Give one important contribution of prehistoric architecture to the

development of architecture as we know it today. Why do you say so?
References
Sanchez, M. D. (2011). History of architecture. Quezon City, Philippines: University of the

Philippines.

Topic 3. WEST ASIATIC ARCHITECTURE/ARCHITECTURE OF THE ANCIENT NEAR
EAST
2. Appreciate the importance of studying West Asiatic architecture.
3. Illustrate the characteristic features of West Asiatic architecture
1. Learning Resource: Answer the question based on the reading resource.

Watch: Mesopotamian Architecture. Source:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNkEDbZ8zF0
a. Choose one (1) term/concept associated with West Asiatic Architecture. Look for
b. List the term you chose on the discussion board. Review the terms submitted
before you to avoid duplication. Repeated works will not be given credit.
Discussion
I. Facts About West Asiatic Architecture

1. Mesopotamia - an ancient region in western Asia between the Tigris and
Euphrates rivers, comprising the lands of Sumer and Akkad and occupied
successively by the Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians, and Persians: now part of
Iraq.
2. Divisions of West Asiatic Architecture:
a. The Babylonian (Chaldean) Period – c.B.C. 4000 – 1275
b. The Assyrian Period (B.C. 1275 – 538)
c. The Persian Period (B.C. 538 – 333)
3. Fertile crescent - an agricultural region from the eastern shores of the
Mediterranean Sea in the west to Iraq in the east: the location of humankind's
earliest structures.

4. Sumerian architecture - the architecture developed
by the Sumerians who dominated southern
Mesopotamia from the 4th to the end of the 3rd
millennium BC, characterized by monumental
temples of sun-dried brick faced with burnt or glazed
brick, often built upon the ruins of their predecessors.
Greatest contribution: Writing (Cuneiform), the wheel, the calendar, etc.)
5. Hittite (Assyrian) Architecture - the architecture of
the Hittite empire which dominated Asia minor and
northern Syria from about 2,000 to 1,200 BC,
characterized by fortifications of cyclopean stone
masonry and gateways with portal sculptures.
Greatest Contribution: Weapons and Warfare
6. Neo-Babylonian architecture - the
Mesopotamian architecture that developed
after the decline of the Assyrian empire,
deriving much from Assyrian architecture
and enhanced by figured designs of heraldic
animals in glazed brickwork.
7. Persian architecture - the architecture
developed under the Ach aemenid dynasty
of kings who ruled ancient Persia from 550 BC until its conquest by Alexander the
Great in 331 BC, characterized by a synthesis of architectural elements of
surrounding counties, such as Assyria, Egypt, and Ionian Greece.
1. Geographical Influence
The fertile plains between the twin
rivers, Tigris and Euphrates were
given the name Mesopotamia from
the Greek word meaning mesos
(middle) and potamos (river).
Known as the “cradle of
civilization”, Mesopotamia is also
part of what is known as the Fertile
Crescent because of the irrigated

farmlands. Mesopotamia included Babylonia, Assyria, Persia, Sumer, and Akkad,
northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey, and southwestern Iran. Babylon was the
capital of ancient Babylonia in southern Mesopotamia, now modern Iraq.
2. Geological Influence
The Mesopotamian plain is mostly alluvial. Reeds and rushes could always be had
in abundance, but timber is imported. Stone too was lacking, limestone of alabaster
is from the uplands, also of minerals like copper, tin, lead, gold, and silver. The one
building material universally available was the clay from the soil itself, for making
bricks: (1) Sun-dried brick - for the ordinary finish; (2) Kiln-dried brick - for facing
important buildings; and (3) Colored glazed brick - for decorative purposes
Chopped straw was mixed with sun-dried bricks. Beyond Mesopotamia, on the
plateau of Analia and Iran, the geology is completely different. Stone was available
throughout the highland zone for building
purposes, and Anatolia timber is available
therefore unique architectural traditions
appeared, with the timber frame structure
being the prototype of buildings in mud brick.
3. Climatic Influence
Except for humid black sea and Caspian
HIGH PLATFORMS OR DADOES
shores, most of the near east is subject to WERE PROVIDED FROM BUILDINGS
AS PROTECTION FROM FLOOD
extremes of temperatures between winter and
summer, the prevalence of heat or cold is
determined principally by altitude. In much of
the highland zone, winter is longer than
summer. The “megaron” (the principal room of
an Anatolian house) with its entrance at the
end rather than on the long sides, was
accordingly suited to the climate of the
PORTICO - A COLONNADED SPACE
Anatolian plateau; and perhaps too the dry, FORMING AN ENTRANCE OR
VESTIBULE, WITH A ROOF
SUPPORTED ON AT LEAST ONE SIDE
exhilarating air of the Iranian plateau -
Persepolis stands at an altitude of 1,800 m. (6,000 ft.) may account for the
frequency of light, columned halls, and porticoes (a colonnaded space forming an
entrance or vestibule, with a roof supported on at least one side by columns) in the
Persian royal buildings.

4. Historical, Social and Political Influence
It was during the reign of King
Nebuchadnezzar II (650 BC) that Babylon was
the largest city in the world. King Hammurabi
was the 6th Babylonian king to write the first
code of laws in human history called
Hammurabi’s code.
The cuneiform script in clay tablets is one of

the earliest forms of written expression.
Assyria was the ancient name of the northeastern part of modern Iraq and was
named after its original capital, the ancient city of Assur. Persia, now known as Iran,
was once a major empire of superpower proportions.
a. In the 6th century B.C., Cyrus the Great (Father of the Iranian Nation)
established the Persian empire as the most powerful state in the world.
b. Darius I (son of Cyrus the Great) ruled the Persian Empire from 522-486 BC.
He developed Infrastructure projects, the largest being the building of the new
capital of Persepolis.
c. Xerxes I (son of Darius I) 486 BC, was known for his massive invasion of
Greece and his defeat marked the decline of the empire.
III. Architectural Character
1. Massive
2. Monumental
3. Grand

IV. Comparison of Architectural Features
V. Summary of Architectural Features of West Asiatic Architecture

1. Persian Arch
2. Columnar and Trabeated with Flat Timber Roof, Sometimes Domed
3. Arcuated type of construction, arch and vault with flat strips, buttresses with glazed
tile adornment (Assyrian and Babylonian)
Persian Column Lamassu
VI. Architectural Examples

a. White Temple
Ziggurat, Uruk
The temple is perched
atop a platform known
as a ziggurat. The

height of the ziggurat reaches 40 feet above street level. The grand height serves
two purposes:
1. To stand out among the other structures and therefore appear the more
important;
2. To get the temple closer to the sky where the ancient Sumerians believed the
deities existed.
The White Temple contains a shrine that is thought to have been dedicated to
Anu. The shrine is fairly small in comparison to the surrounding structures. The
modest size (61 x 16 ft.) could hold only a selected few, most likely these people
were priests and/or leaders of the city. The central hall, known as the cella, was
set aside for divinity and housed a stepped altar. The ancient Sumerians
believed that the gods/goddesses would descend from the heavens into the cella
and meet with the priests. It is because of this belief that the temples were
referred to as waiting rooms.
b. Ziggurat of Ur
The ziggurat had a solid core of mud brick
and was faced with burnt brickwork. It
carried the usual temple at the summit.
c. Temple Oval, Khajafe Special sanctity
was attached to the temple by digging
down to virgin soil before its construction.
The dug area was filled with clean sand to
assure the purity of the foundation
d. Palace of Sargon, Khorsabad
The palace was built by Sargon II of
Assyria. It was square planned with a
defensive parameter and covered nearly
one square mile.
Parts of the Palace of Sargon:
1. Seraglio - palace proper with the king’s
residence, state halls, men’s
apartments and reception courts.
Harem - private family apartments

2. Khan - service chamber
e. Palace at Susa by Darius
The Ancient City of Nineveh 6,000 BC (now
Mosul), was once made the capital of the
Assyrian empire by Sargon’s son,
Sennacherib.
The City of Babylon Major Structures
1. Nebuchadnezzar’s Great Palace
2. Ishtar Gate was the eighth gate to the
inner city of Babylon. It was constructed
in about 575 BC by order of King
Nebuchadnezzar II on the north side of
the city. Dedicated to the Babylonian
goddess Ishtar, the Gate was constructed
of blue glazed tiles with alternating rows
of bas reliefs of dragons and lions. The
gate was reconstructed in the Museum
from the materials excavated.
3. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon was
supposedly built by the Babylonian king
Nebuchadnezzar II around 600 BC. He is
reported to have constructed the gardens
to please his homesick wife, Amytis of
Media, who longed for the trees and
fragrant plants of her homeland.
Technically, the gardens did not hang but
grew on the roofs and terraces of the
royal palace in Babylon.
4. The Temple of Marduk (The Supreme
God) gives an impression of power
radiated by this massive architecture.
Heavily bastioned, built in clay, with its
huge square towers and its crenellated
terraces, the main body constituted the

actual temple of Marduk, with an outbuilding attached to the temple.
5. The Tower of Babel (Hebrew Bahbel, from Assyro-Babylonian bab-ill, “Gate of
God”), according to the Old Testament (see Genesis 11:1-9). The builders
intended the lower to reach heaven; their presumption, however, angered
Yahweh, who interrupted construction by causing among them a previously
unknown confusion of languages. He then scattered these people, speaking
different languages, over the face of the earth.
f. The Palace of Persepolis (Greek
word meaning City of the
Persians) was begun by Darius I,
mostly executed by Xerxes I, and
finished by Artaxerxes I about 460
BC. Persepolis was built as a
showcase for the empire, designed to
awe visitors with its scale and beauty.
It is Persian ideology and design but
International in its superb architecture and artistic execution.
Parts of the Palace of Persepolis:
1. Gate of all nations by Xerxes I, Persepolis. Xerxes’ name was written in 3
languages and carved on the entrances, informing everyone that he ordered it
to be built.
2. The Apadana (Grand Audience Hall), Persepolis by Darius I.
3. Tachara Palace of Darius and Xerxes, Persepolis. The Tachara is the smallest
of the palace buildings in Persepolis. It was constructed of the finest quality
stone. The surface was almost completely black and polished to a glossy
brilliance. This surface treatment combined with
the high-quality stone is the reason for it being
the most intact of all ruins at Persepolis today.
Although its mud block walls have completely
disintegrated, the enormous stone blocks of the
door and window frames have survived.
4. Tripylon (Reception Chamber and Guard
Room), Persepolis
5. The Treasury, Persepolis by Darius served as
the armory and storehouse.

6. The Throne Hall or Hall of the Hundred Columns, Persepolis was begun by
Xerxes I and completed by Artaxerxes I. It was constructed for the king to receive
the nobles and dignitaries. Columns at the throne hall have the double unicorn
and the double bull capitals.
Synthesis Activity

References
A book you can trust (2010). Assyria in bible history. Retrieved from
https://www.jw.org/en/library/magazines/g201012/assyria-in-bible-history/
A book you can trust (2010). Babylon in bible history. Retrieved from
https://www.jw.org/en/library/magazines/g201101/babylon-in-bible-history/
A book you can trust (2011). Medo-persia in bible history. Retrieved from
https://www.jw.org/en/library/magazines/g201102/medo-persia-in-bible-history/
Fletcher, Banister, Dan Cruickshank. Sir Banister Fletcher's a history of architecture. 20th ed.
Oxford: Architectural Press, 1996
National Geographic (2018, Nov. 04). Ancient Mesopotamia 101. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVf5kZA0HtQ

Philippines.
Timeline (2017, Nov. 08). Lost worlds: Persia's forgotten empire. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3bOL8j3ypQ

Topic 4. EGYPTIAN ARCHITECTURE
2. Appreciate the importance of studying West Asiatic architecture.
3. Illustrate the characteristic features of West Asiatic architecture
1. Learning Resource: Answer the question based on the learning resource.
Watch:
Why Did The Egyptians Stop Building Pyramids? | Immortal Egypt | Timeline. Source:
https://youtu.be/k3QiW0gEpYM

a. Choose one (1) term/concept associated with West Asiatic Architecture. Look for the
Discussion
I. Facts about Egyptian Architecture

1. Egyptian architecture - the architecture of the ancient civilization that flourished
along the Nile River in northwest Africa from before 3,000 B.C. to its annexation by
Rome in 30 BC, characterized esp. by the axial planning of massive masonry tombs
and temples, the use of trabeated construction with precise stonework, and the
decoration of battered walls with pictographic carvings in relief. An obsession with
eternity and the afterlife dominated the building of these funerary monuments and
temples, which reproduced the features of domestic architecture but on a massive
scale using stone for permanence. In an axial plan, the parts of a building are
organized longitudinally, or along a given axis; in a central plan, the parts of the
structure are of equal or almost equal dimensions around the center.

1. Geographical Influence
Ancient Egypt was an ancient
civilization of northeastern Africa,
concentrated along the
lower reaches of the Nile River in what
is now the modern country of Egypt.
“The Nile, life of Egypt”
 Irrigation turned desert lands into
fruitful fields.
 Its gentle current was favorable for
navigation.
 Trade and commerce prospered along its banks.
 Early Egyptian civilization had its birth along the Nile.
 Important religious structures like tomb pyramids and temples for the gods were built
in strategic places along the banks of the Nile.
2. Geological Influence
 Principles of construction were post and lintel.
 Mud brick was the principal building material for domestic buildings.

 Stone (sandstone, limestone, granite, and marble) was favored for temples and
tombs.
 The ancient Egyptians did not use mortar, so the stones were carefully cut to fit
together.
3. Climatic Influence
Due to the aridity of Egypt’s
climate, population centers are
concentrated along the narrow
Nile Valley and Delta.
 Effects of climate on buildings:
a. Simple design
b. Few windows
c. Flat roof
d. Massive wall
4. Religious and Social Influence
The religious rites of the Egyptians were traditional and mysterious as manifested in
tombs and temples.
A. Religious practices:
 Monotheistic in theory but
Polytheistic in practice (natural
phenomena, heavenly bodies,
and animals).
 There was no dividing line
between gods and kings. They
were frequently associated with
triads.
a. Theban Triad
 Amun - the king of the gods.
 Mut - consort to Amun and queen of the gods.
 Khons - the son of Amun and Mut; the god of the moon and time.
b. Abydos Triad
 Osiris - the god of the underworld
 Isis - the mother of Horus.
 Horus - the child of Isis and Osiris.

c. Memphis Triad
 Ptah - the chief deity of Memphis and patron deity of craftsmen.
 Sekhmet - the consort of Ptah and the giver of divine retribution,
vengeance, and conquest.
 Nefertem - the protector of the two lands.
d. Menkaure Triad
 King Menkaure - the last great pyramid builder.
 Hathor - the goddess of music and love, holding his hand.
 The 17th deified nome (ruler) of upper Egypt.
B. Royal Symbols
A
double crown headdress (‘pschent’) represents the kingship of the 2 lands,

upper and lower Egypt. The white crown (‘hedjet’) is for upper Egypt and the
red crown (‘deshret’) is for lower Egypt.
 Nemes crown is a striped head cloth worn almost exclusively by the king in
representations like a sphinx or falcon.

 Ankh symbolizes life, health, and strength.
 Feather of Ma’at represents justice, truth, morality, and
balance. The heart of the deceased is weighed with the
feather of Ma’at: The heart should be lighter than the
feather because a heavy heart is full of sin.
 The Eye of Horus symbolizes protection and royal power.
 Cartouche is a rope enclosing a royal name thereby
serving as the protector of that name.
 The scepter symbolizes power and dominion. The Was scepter has a stylized
animal head on top and a forked end. It was a visual representation of the
concept of “power” or “dominion”. The Sekhem
scepter denotes the concept of “power” and
“control”.
 Sun disk represents light, warmth, and growth.
 Scarab symbolizes resurrection and rebirth.
 Boat of Ra. Earn a place in Ra’s boat by having
a light heart.
 Crook and Flail are symbols of royalty, kingship,
majesty, and dominion. The crook is a scepter
symbolizing government. These are the 2 most
prominent in the royal regalia or insignia.
 Uraeus/cobra symbolizes royal protection
 Falcon is for divine kingship. They also represent
the unification of lower Egypt (cobra) and upper
Egypt (falcon).
 Ibis symbolizes reincarnation.
C. Belief in the Afterlife
The outstanding feature of the religion of the Egyptians
was their strong belief in the afterlife. Mummification was
reserved for the richest and most powerful in Egyptian
society. The process was long and expensive. Three
main people took part in the process; the scribe, the
cutter, and the embalmer. It takes 70 days to prepare the body for burial. Their belief:

 An intact body is an integral part of a person’s afterlife and assuring
themselves a successful rebirth into the afterlife.
 Without a physical body, there is no shadow, no name, no spirit, no personality,
and no immortality.
 Mummies are contained in coffins called the sarcophagus. In the case of
Tutankhamun, his mummy was contained in 3 coffins, each one within the
next. The outer coffin was made of gilded wood covered with gold. The middle
coffin was made of wood covered with gold, semi-precious stones, glass, and
obsidian. The inner coffin was made of solid gold and weighs 110 kg. (which
in
2004 princess is worth over 1.5 million US dollars). His death mask was made
of solid gold and inlaid, with semi-precious stones, it weighs 11 kg.
 Everlasting monuments for the preservation of the dead:
a. Temple of the gods
b. Tomb pyramids of the kings
The Kings of ancient Egypt are known as Pharaohs. ‘Pharaoh’ is a Greek
word that is based on an Egyptian word that meant ‘great house’.
The pharaoh was the political and religious leader holding the titles: “Lord
of the Two Lands” and “High Priest of Every Temple”. As “Lord of the Two
Lands” the pharaoh was the ruler of upper and lower Egypt. He owned all
the land, made laws, collected taxes, and defended Egypt against
invaders. As “High Priest of Every Temple”, the pharaoh represented the
gods on earth. He performed rituals and built temples to honor the gods.
The pharaohs have been divided into 30 dynasties.
D. Great Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt
a. Hatshepsut ruled herself as the first woman pharaoh after the death of her
husband Thutmose II. She ruled with her nephew Thutmose III who was too
young to be the heir.
b. Thutmose III was called the Napoleon of ancient Egypt because of his military
genius and built many structures.
c. Tutankhamun was a young pharaoh at the age of 9 so his uncle Ay, who was
the highest minister, ruled for him while he was a boy. He was the 12th king of
the 18th dynasty.

d. Rameses II was one of the longest ruling
pharaohs of ancient Egypt for 67 yeast. He
lived for 80 years with over a dozen wives
and more than 100 children.
e. Cleopatra (Queen of the Nile) was the last
pharaoh of ancient Egypt though she was
not of Egyptian lineage, being the daughter
of Ptolemy XII (Greek).

A. Simplicity
B. Solidity/Massiveness
C. Grandeur/Monumentality
IV. Architectural Features
A. Ornaments
a. Papyrus (symbol for lower Egypt and
fertility)
b. Lotus (symbol for upper Egypt and fertility)

c. Palm (fertility)
B. Three (3) types of Ornamentation
a. Geometric forms
b. Animals
c. Plants
C. Columns - Indicative of plant stems at the
base with capitals derived from lotus buds,
papyrus flower and the palm.
V. Architectural Examples
1. Royal Tomb Architecture
a. Royal Mastaba - A broad pit below
ground covered with a rectangular flat
mound with sides sloping at 75 deg. The
word mastaba is an Arabic word
meaning “bench of mud”. The main axis
lay north and south and has a false door
on the southern side allowing the spirit
of the dead to enter and leave at will.
A mastaba has a shaft descending to the
tomb chamber.
Heavy stones (portcullises) are dropped
through the slots to steal
the chamber. Parts of a mastaba include:
 A serdab is an enclosed room
containing the statue of the deceased. It has a hole allowing the spirit of the
dead to communicate with the living world.
 The stele in the offering chapel has the
name of the deceased inscribed on it.
Examples: Mastaba, Faraoun;
Mastaba, Tarkhan; Mastaba, Saqqara;
Mastaba, Gizeh
b. Step Pyramid

Step Pyramid of Djoser by Imhotep is the world’s first large-scale monument in
stone with no free-standing columns. It is a series of 6 successively smaller
mastabas one atop of another and
originally clad in polished white
limestone.
c. Bent Pyramid - the Bent Pyramid is a
unique example of early pyramid
development. The lower part rises at 55
deg. Inclination and the top section is
shallower at 43 deg. The Bent Pyramid
of Sneferu, Dashurhas the best-
preserved limestone outer sheath of any
pyramid in Egypt.
d. The Pyramids of Giza. Parts of the
Pyramid include: (1) offering chapel, (2)
mortuary temple (for the worship of the
dead), (3) causeway, and (4) valley building (for internment and embalming)
 The Pyramid of Cheops (Khufu) is the oldest and largest (13 acres) of the 3
pyramids in the Giza, Necropolis. It is the oldest of the 7 wonders of the Ancient
World and the only one to remain largely intact. The granite blocks weigh 2.5
tons. The original outer casing of the pyramid was of white Tura stone, a
beautiful white limestone. The capstone was plated with gold, silver, or electrum,
(an alloy of gold and silver) that would also be highly reflective in the bright sun.
The Grand Gallery was constructed of corbelled vaulting. The King’s chamber
is a hollow space in the middle of a massive structure of the stone.
The chamber is of hard granite surrounded by softer limestone.

The ante-room in the King’s chamber must have been blocked with portcullises
to seal the tomb chamber. The stones must have been lowered by pulleys
fashioned from ropes.
 The Pyramid of Chephren (Khafre) is slightly smaller than the Great Pyramid of
Cheops and guarded by the Sphinx believed to bear the face of King Chephren.
A
The Sphinx is a mythical monster with the body of a lion and the head of a
pharaoh
(androsphinx), hawk (hieracosphinx), or ram (criosphinx).
 The Pyramid of Mykerinos (Menkaure, son of Chephren) is the smallest and the
last among the 3 pyramids to be built in the Giza Plateau.
e. Building the Pyramids: The Necropolis
 The logistics of construction at the Giza
site are staggering considering that the
ancient Egyptians had no pulleys, no
wheels, and no iron tools. Yet, the
dimensions of the pyramid are
extremely accurate and the site was
leveled within a fraction of an inch over
the entire 13.1-acre base. This is
comparable to the accuracy possible
with modern construction methods and
laser leveling.
 Recruitment of the Skilled Labor Force Pyramid construction was paid labor
during the slow agricultural season, not slave labor as is commonly supposed.
It was highly labor-intensive. A workers’ city was constructed - barracks,
administrative buildings, granaries, bakeries, breweries, work yards, smithies,
and foundries. There were permanent dwellings for those who brought their
families to settle, and the king encouraged this heartily. Those craftsmen and
artisans who were first to arrive had the most desirable jobs, the finest housing,
the best in all things

 The Ramp Theory
o Stones were dragged on
a prepared slipway (on
the ramp) that was
lubricated with oil.
o Straight ramp
o Zigzag ramp
o Spiral ramp
o Internal ramp
2. Rock-cut Tombs
A. Hillside tombs were elaborately
decorated tombs carved into the
limestone cliffs.
 Tombs, Beni Hasan has 39
ancient rock-cut tombs.
B. Corridor tombs contain stairways,
passageways, corridors, and burial
chambers located below the valley
floor.

 The valley of the Kings, Luxor
was the royal necropolis of
ancient Egypt where the kings
and powerful nobles were
buried. The valley was listed in
the UNESCO World Heritage
Site in 1987. The tomb of
Tutankhamun was one of the
smaller tombs in the valley of
the Kings as Tutankhamun
was a fairly
minor king who had a very
short reign. Over 3,500 items
were recovered
from the burial of
Tutankhamun, and many are
breathtaking in their beauty
and a testament to the skill of
Egyptian craftsmen. Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut
 The valley of the Queens,
Luxor is a place near the valley of the Kings where wives of pharaohs were
buried in ancient times
3. Temples
A. Types of Temples
a. Mortuary temple is used for the ministrations to deified pharaohs.
b. Cult temple is for the worship of the ancient and mysterious gods.
B. Features of Temples

a. Light and shadow are
important features in temples.
Light came through:
 Wall openings
 Gaps between columns
 Clerestory windows
b. Parts of an Egyptian Temple
Temple of Philae and the Mystery Cult of
 Pylon is the monumental gateway.

 The Great Court is surrounded by columns.
 Hypostyle Hall is a forest of columns. Portraying the illusion of infinity and
vastness of space.
 Sanctuary is the holiest part and accessible only to the king and high priests.
 Enclosure wall.
 Colossal statues of the Pharaoh.
 Obelisks are tall 4-sided narrow
tapering columns terminating in a
pyramidion, as its most sacred part.

 Avenue of sphinxes
c. Temples walls were designed with inward inclinations called batter walls.
Examples:
 Temple of Isis, Philae was the last pagan temple to exist in the
Mediterranean. It was dedicated to the goddess Isis, wife of Osiris and
mother of Horus.

 The Great Temple of Amun, Karnak (ancient Thebes) is the greatest of all
Egyptian temples and was built by many kings. It was the most important
sanctuary of the cult that
worshipped the sun god,
Amun-Ra. It has 6 pairs of
pylons, approached by
avenues of sphinxes, and a
pair of obelisks flank the main
entrance. It has a Great Court
with 134 super-sized
columns in 16 rows, 21-24
m. high and 3.60 m. in
diameter.
 Temple of Luxor was
mostly built by Amenophis
III, dedicated to the
Theban Triad of Amun,
Mut, and Khons.
 Great Temple, Abu
Simbel is a rock-hewn temple with 4 rock-cut colossal statues of Rameses
II, over 20 m. high.
 Small Temple, Abu
Simbel is a rock-hewn
temple dedicated to
Rameses II’s deified
queen, Nefertari and the
goddess Hathor.
 The Mortuary Temple of
Queen Hatshepsut, Valley of the Queens, Der el-Bahari was built by Senmut
and dedicated to the sun god Amun-Ra. It is connected to a corridor tomb.
 The Mortuary Temple of Mentuhotep, Der el-Bahari is directly released to a
corridor tomb.
 Temple of Khons, Karnak was a cult temple mostly done by Rameses III.

 Temple of Seti I, Abydos. The close-grained limestone wall relief is the finest
in Egypt.
 The Ramesseum, Thebes, by Rameses II, is a mortuary temple of the cult
type.
 The Temple of Horus, Edfu, built from sandstone blocks, is the most
completely preserved of all temple remains.
 Mammisi Temple was built to celebrate the divine birth of Horus. A mammisi
temple is often referred to as a birth house of the gods located within the
temple precinct.
 Mammisi Temple at the
Temple of Hathor, Dendera is
dedicated to Ihy (the son of
Hathor and Horus)
 Domestic Egyptian houses
are made of crude bricks, 1-2
storeys high with flat and
parapeted roofs.
Synthesis Activity

References
A book you can trust (2010). Egypt in bible history. Retrieved from
https://www.jw.org/en/library/magazines/g201011/egypt-in-bible-history/

National Geographic (2017, Dec. 17). Ancient Egypt 101. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hO1tzmi1V5g

Philippines.

Topic 5. A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF ANCIENT NEAR EAST AND EGYPTIAN
ARCHITECTURE: A SUPPLEMENT
1. Learn the similarities and differences between Architecture of the Ancient Near East and
Egyptian Architecture.
2. Graphically illustrate the similarities and differences between these two architectural
styles.
Discussion
Elements Egyptian Architecture Ancient Near East
A. Plan  An imposing avenue of sphinxes  Temples and palaces on artificial

led to the main entrance platforms, reached by flights
 Flanking slender obelisks which of steps, 30 to 50 ft. above the
formed a strong contrast to the plain, for defense and
massive pylons. protection against malaria.
 Courts and halls alike were  Halls and rooms grouped around
designed to produce an open quadrangles were long and
impressive internal effect narrow, to be easy to vault.
 A hypostyle hall, seemingly  Ziggurats, which rose tower-like
unlimited in size, crowded with in diminishing terraces to the
columns, and mysteriously temple observatory at the top,
illuminated from above, which had their angles to the cardinal
was the grandest achievement of points
Egyptian planning.  Assyrian buildings were
 The temples frequently consist of designed for both internal and
a series of additions spread over external effects, in contrast with
many centuries which disregard Egyptian temples which, behind
symmetry in the planning of one the massive entrance pylons,
part relative to another, were enclosed by a plain and
particularly seen in temples forbidding girdle wall that
erected under the Ptolemies, gradually decreased in height
such as the Temple on the Island from front to back.
of Philae, where walls, courts,  The Persians, like the Assyrians,
and pylons are on different axes, placed their palaces on lofty
free from any pretense to platforms, often partly rock-cut
regularity, thus producing and partly built-up, but the style
remarkably picturesque of palaces at Susa and
grouping. Persepolis was influenced by
 Pyramids were oriented with their that of Egyptian temples, and the
sides facing the cardinal points vast halls had widely spaced
columns that suggest timber
roofs, in contrast to the corridor-

like, vaulted apartments of
Assyrian palaces.
 Walls  Temple walls were immensely  Assyrian walls were composite
thick, of limestone, sandstone, or structures of sun-dried bricks
more rarely granite. The wall faced with kiln-dried bricks,
faces slopes inwards or batters which contrast with the massive
externally towards the top, giving stone walls of the Egyptians and
a massive appearance. the solid marble walls of the
 Authorities trace the origin of this Greeks.
inclination either to the  Palace walls were frequently
employment of mud for walls of sheathed internally with
early buildings or because this alabaster bas-reliefs that record
form of wall was better able to military and sporting exploits.
resist earthquakes.  External walls were plainly
 The columns, which are the treated, sometimes with
leading external features of alternating vertical projections
Greek architecture, are not used and recesses or with half-
externally in Egyptian buildings, cylinders, and the top was often
which normally have a massive finished with battlemented
blank wall crowned with the cresting, while towers flanked
characteristic " gorge " cornice of palace entrances and occurred
roll and hollow moulding. Walls, at short intervals along the walls.
even when of granite, were  The Persians built their walls of
generally carved in low relief, brick, which as at Persepolis
sometimes coated with a thin have crumbled away, but the
skin of stucco, about the massive stone blocks of door and
thickness of a sheet of paper, to window
receive the color. architraves and the broad
 Character: Simplicity, solidity, stone stairways have in many
and grandeur, obtained by broad instances withstood the ravages
masses of unbroken walling, are of time and weather.
the chief characteristics of the  The highly glazed and colored
style. brickwork, as found at Susa and
Persepolis, was applied to give
that surface finish to the walls
which in Greece was obtained by
polishing the surface of the
marble to great brilliancy.
 Openings  Colonnades and doorways, in an  Assyrian doorways were
essentially trabeated style, were spanned by semicircular arches,
usually square-headed and here first met with ornamental
spanned with massive lintels. features, suitable to the nature of
 Windows are seldom found in brick construction. At palace
temples rare example being that entrances, the arches were
at Medinet Habu’s light was enhanced by decorative
admitted through clear story archivolts of colored bricks.
screens in the earlier examples  It is to be noted that the pointed
at Thebes, or, in the Ptolemaic arch was employed as early as
and Roman periods, over low B.C. 722 in the drains under the
dwarf walls between the facade great palace at Khorsabad, and
columns, as at Luxor, Edfu, indeed Assyria seems to have
Dendera, and Philae. Pierced

stone window panels of various been the original home of this
patterns have been found and feature.
small slit-openings were also  Windows were not in use, but the
used in roofs and walls to light light was admitted through doors
rooms and staircases. and probably through pipe-holes
in walls and vaults. The Persians
used horizontal stone lintels for
doors and windows, in contrast to
the arches of the Assyrians, and
some may still be seen among
the ruins at Persepolis where
large doorways are surmounted
by cornices similar to the
Egyptian gorge.
 Roofs  These were composed of  Assyrian roofs, supported on
massive slabs of stone brick vaults over the halls, were
supported by outer walls and externally flat and were probably
closely spaced internal columns. rendered waterproof using
 Flat roofs of dwelling-houses bitumen. As is still usual in the
served as pleasant rendezvous unchanging East, they were used
for the enjoyment of the fresh as a resort in the cool of the
breezes which sprang up at evening and were concealed
sunset, and they may also have behind battlemented cresting.
been used for repose in the Strabo states that the houses
daytime with temporary awnings of Babylon were vaulted, as at
as protection from the sun. Flat Khorsabad and the dome were
temple roofs were utilized for probably employed over small
priestly processions. compartments, as represented
 The arch, although not shown on wall slabs from Nineveh, and
externally, occurs in some of the it is indeed a traditional Eastern
earliest brick buildings, also in form, owing to its suitability for
roofs of the Twelfth Dynasty, and clay and brick construction.
arched store-rooms of the Persian roofs, of which, however,
Ramesseum in the Nineteenth none remain, were, it is believed,
Dynasty. Flinders Petrie points also flat and probably of; for at
out that as mud bricks would be Susa and Persepolis, they
more easily crushed than kiln appear to have been supported
bricks, a parabolic arch was on comparatively slender and
preferred to a semicircular, the widely spaced columns.
apex of which would have been
more likely to yield under
pressure. In rock-cut temples,
ceilings are sometimes chiseled
into an arched form, while in the
tombs at Beni Hasan the roofing
represents timber construction
 Columns  Columns, seldom over six  The Assyrians could not have
diameters high, often appear in used columns, as in all the
the form of papyrus or lotus excavations no columns or even
stalks tied at intervals by bands. bases have been found; indeed,
The circular shafts curve in in Assyrian architecture, the
towards the base like sheathed brick-built tower, and not the

stalks and sometimes stand on column, is the outstanding
thick unmoulded bases that in feature.
shape somewhat resemble a  Columns may, however, have
Dutch cheese. Another form been used in smaller buildings,
of support were the Osiris pillars such as the little fishing pavilion
used in the mortuary temples at which, as represented on a slab
Thebes, the forerunners of the from Khorsabad, has columns
Caryatids of the Greeks, while with an early form of the Ionic
the 16- sided columns of the scroll. The Persians on the
Tombs at Beni Hasan are contrary used columns, widely
another variety. Capitals mostly spaced and comparatively
follow the forms of the lotus slender, as they had only to
(emblem of Upper Egypt), the support the weight of timber and
papyrus (emblem of Lower clay roofs, instead of ponderous
Egypt), and the palm, and are as stone slabs, as in Egypt. The
follows: Persians invented a most
(a) The lotus bud, distinctive type of column,
conventionalized. (b) The lotus probably founded on those they
flower formed a bell-shaped had seen in Thebes, but with high
capital sculptured and moulded bases, fluted shafts,
ornamented with colors. (c) The and capitals of recurring vertical
papyrus plant. (d) The palm scrolls, perhaps derived from
capital with painted or sculptured Asiatic Greek buildings, such as
palm leaves. (e) Composite the Temple of Artemis, Ephesus
capitals formed of rings of lotus (B.C. 550). Sometimes these
flowers and columns were surmounted by
volutes, held by some to be twin bulls, unicorns, horses, or
prototypes of Greek Corinthian griffins, on the backs of which
capitals. (f) Hathor-headed were placed the cross beams of
capitals, as at Dendera and the roof. This peculiar and
Philae, formed of heads of the somewhat grotesque treatment
goddess supporting the model of has been supposed to have had
a temple front. a timber origin in which the
capital was formed either of a
long beam or of a fork which was
the simplest type of bracket
capital.
 Mouldings  Mouldings were few and  Assyrians, like Egyptians, had
consisted of the bead or roll no general use for mouldings,
moulding for the angles of as their architecture was on too
buildings, and the hollow, vast a scale for such treatment,
generally used in conjunction and the glazed tiles and marble
with the bead, as the "gorge slabs that protected the
moulding to crown the upper part perishable brick walls were
of pylons and walls. sufficient decoration without
 Mouldings were evidently mouldings. It is noticeable too
considered to be out of place that mouldings only came into
where walls were relieved by general use after they had been
sculptured pictures from the base evolved and standardized by the
to summit. Greeks.
 Persians were susceptible to
the influence of both Egyptian

and Greek models, and allowed
themselves much latitude in
adapting and combining various
motifs, and the conglomerate
character of the style is nowhere
more conspicuous than in their
use and application of
mouldings. There is at Persepolis
a curious melange attributable to
this dual source in which carved
bases, moulded capitals, and
Ionic-like volutes are combined
with the Egyptian "gorge” cornice
over doorways.
 Ornament  This important element in  The Assyrians used it as their
the style was often symbolic, chief architectural ornament
including such features as the chiseled alabaster slabs which
solar disc or globe and vulture show an extraordinary
with outspread wings as a refinement of line and detail far
symbol of protection; while superior to Egyptian carvings,
diaper patterns, spirals, and the and these, both in treatment and
feather ornament were largely coloring, undoubtedly influenced
used. The scarab, or sacred Greek bas-reliefs. These slabs,
beetle used by the Egyptians as some of which are in the British
a symbol, obtained its sacred Museum, form an illustrated
character as the emblem of record of Assyrian pursuits. The
resurrection probably because of well-known pavement slab from
its habit of allowing the sun to Nineveh, with rosettes,
hatch its eggs in the desert sand. palmettes, and border of lotus
 The decoration of temple walls buds and flowers, shows a
consisted largely of decorative art, doubtless derived
representations of acts of from Egyptian sources, but
adoration of the monarch to his tempered by the art of Greece.
gods, to whom he ascribed all his  The Assyrians displayed their
success in war. The Egyptians, skilled craftsmanship not only in
masters in the use of color, stone carving but also in bronze
carried out their schemes of working, as shown in the gates of
decoration chiefly in blue, red, Shalmaneser II (B.C. 860-825)
and yellow. The wall to be which are in the British Museum.
decorated was probably The external ornament of
prepared as follows: (a) the Assyrian palaces appears to
surface was first chiseled smooth have been concentrated around
and rubbed down; (b) the figures the main entrance, in the
or hieroglyphics were then drawn sculptured monsters which
with a red line by an artist and guarded the kingly threshold, and
corrected with a black line by the in the brilliantly glazed and
chief artist ; colored archivolt of the archway.
(c) the sculptor made his The
carvings in low relief or incised Persians continued the use of
the outline, slightly rounding the flanking monsters to doorways,
enclosed form towards its as in the Propylaea at Persepolis,
boundaries; (d) a thin skin of and of carved dadoes to stairway

stucco was probably applied to walls. The outstanding feature of
receive the color, and the painter ornament as developed by the
carried out his work in the strong Persians is their mastery in the
hues of the primary colors. The preparation and application of
hieroglyphics were sometimes pure color to glazed bricks, as in
incised directly on the stone or the " Archer " and " Lion " friezes
granite and then colored, as may from Susa, now in the Louvre
be seen in the sculptures at the Museum, Paris, or as in the bas-
British Museum. They are relief from Persepolis. Persians,
instructive as well as decorative, like Assyrians, reserved
and from them is learned a great ornament for special positions;
deal of what is known of Egyptian whereas the Egyptians spread it
history. broadcast over their unbroken
 The Egyptians possessed great wall surfaces.
power of conventionalized  The Greeks, as we shall see,
natural objects and they took the followed the Assyrian method in
lotus, palm, and papyrus as concentrating ornament,
motifs for design. These were allocated it to entablature, frieze,
nature symbols of the fertility and pediment, and standardized
given to the country by the it in the " Orders of Architecture,"
overflowing Nile, and as such which, as regards the variation of
they continually appear both in detail, must be regarded from the
construction and ornament point of view of ornament, though
their raison d' etre is essentially
constructive.

Topic 6. AEGEAN AND GREEK ARCHITECTURE
2. Appreciate the importance of studying Aegean and Greek architecture.
3. Illustrate the characteristic features of Aegean and Greek architecture
Watch:
Ancient Greece 101. Source: https://youtu.be/6bDrYTXQLu8

a. Choose one (1) term/concept associated with Aegean and Greek Architecture. Look for
Discussion
I. Facts About Greece

1. Classical architecture - the
architecture of ancient Greece and
Rome, on which the Italian
Renaissance and subsequent styles,
such as the Baroque and the Classical
Revival, based their development.
2. Mycenaean architecture - the
architecture of ancient Greece and
Rome, on which the Italian

Renaissance and subsequent styles, such as the Baroque and the Classical Revival,
based their development.
3. Minoan architecture - the architecture of the Bronze Age civilization that flourished on
Crete from about 3,000 to 1,100 B.C., named after the legendary King Minos of Knossos
and characterized by the elaborate palaces at Knossos and Phaetus.
4. Greek architecture - the architecture of the civilization that flourished on the Greek
peninsula. In Asia Minor, on the north coast of Africa, and in the western Mediterranean
until the establishment of Roman dominion in A.D. 146, characterized by a system of
construction based on rules of form and proportion. Temples of post-and-lintel
construction were continually refined in a quest for perfection and their design
influenced a wide range of secular, and civic buildings.
5. Hellenic - of or about ancient Greek history, culture, and art, esp. before the time of
Alexander the Great.
6. Hellenistic - of or about Greek history, culture, and art from the time of Alexander the
Great’s death in 323 B.C. through the 1st century B.C. during which Greek dynasties
were established in Egypt, Syria, and Persia, and Greek culture was modified by foreign
elements.
II. Influences on Greek Architecture
A. Geographical Influence
 It was upon the island of
Crete that arose the first
great sea power of the
Mediterranean, which
flourished a thousand years
before the Greek civilization
reached its peak.
 Aegean civilization has two
cultures known as Minoan
which flourished in Crete
under the legendary King
Minos of Knossos, and the
mainland civilization known as Mycenaean, after one of the great centers,
Mycenae.
 The Minoans were the first great culture of Aegean civilization.

B. Geological Influence
 The greatest importance to her architecture was her unrivaled marble which
facilitates exactness of line and refinement detail.
 The most famous variety of marble is the Pentelic marble of Greece, found in the
quarries of Mount Pentelikon in Attica. Pentelic marble was used by the great
sculptors of ancient Greece, including Phidias and Praxiteles.
C. Climatic Influence
 Climate was intermediate between rigorous cold and relaxing heat conducive for
activities in the open air and porticoes and colonnades were important features of
structures.
D. Religious Influence
a. The Aegean
o The Aegeans practiced nature worship. The supreme deity was the fertility
goddess, Rhea.
o Their religious ceremonies included sacred games and ritual dances
b. The Greek
o The gods were personifications of particular elements. Each deity has its
own attribute.
o The Greeks considered the 12 Olympian gods and goddesses:
i. Aphrodite - goddess of love, romance, and beauty. Her son was Eros,
god of Love (though he is not an Olympian)
ii. Apollo - beautiful god of the sun, light, medicine, and music.
iii. Ares - dark god of war who loves Aphrodite.
iv. Artemis - independent goddess of the hunt, the forest, wildlife, childbirth,
and the moon; sister to Apollo.
v. Athena - daughter of Zeus and goddess of wisdom, war, and crafts.
vi. Demeter - goddess of agriculture and mother of Persephone (again, her
offspring is not considered to be an Olympian)
vii. Hephaestus - lame god of fire and the forge. The Hephaestion near the
Acropolis is the most beautifully preserved ancient temple in Greece.
viii. Hera - wife of Zeus, protector of marriage, familiar with magic.
ix. Hermes - the speedy messenger of the gods, god of business. The
Romans called him Mercury.

x. Hestia - the calm goddess of home and home life, symbolized by the
hearth which holds a continually burning flame.
xi. Poseidon - god of the sea, horses, and earthquakes.
xii. Zeus - supreme lord of gods, god of the sky, symbolized by the
thunderbolt.
xiii. Hades - although he was an important god and the brother of Zeus and
Poseidon, was not only generally considered to be one of the twelve
Olympians since he dwelled in the underworld.
E. Historical and Social Influence
The history of Greece is divided into distinctive periods:
a. Mycenaean or Helladic Greece
 Defense architecture such as fortifications of Mycenaean and Tiryns was
necessary for protection.
 A Citadel palace was built.
b. Hellenic Greece
 The “city-state” (polis) emerged as the basis of Greek society.
 Great figures in philosophy and science such as Pythagoras (philosopher
scientist) and Socrates (philosopher).
 The Greek theater has a religious attribute and originated from the festival of
the worship of Dionysus.
c. Hellenistic Greece
 Philip of Macedonia unified Greece and his son, Alexander the Great
embarked on a national crusade against Persia.
 The death of Alexander, 32, led to the division of the empire among his
generals.
 Greece became a Roman province.
1. Simplicity and harmony
2. Purity of line
3. Perfection of proportions
4. Refinement of details

A. The Megaron
A building or semi-independent unit
of a building, typically having a
rectangular principal chamber with a
central hearth and a porch, often of
columns in antis: traditional in
Greece since Mycenaean times and
believed to be the ancestors of the
Doric temple. Houses and palaces were the principal building types.
1. The megaron is the characteristic domestic unit. Parts of an Aegean megaron:
a. Anteroom with central doorway
b. Living apartment
c. Thalamus (sleeping quarters)
2. Materials
a. They were constructed of rubble or cut stone. No mortar was ever employed.
b. The walls were coated with stucco.
c. Gypsum was used for polished floors and roof deckings that were carried on
round logs.
d. Columns were of cypress wood, tapering downward, cylindrical shaft, disc-like
base, and a widely projecting capital with 2 main parts:
 Square abacus (above)
 Circular echinus (below)
 This broad-topped column was necessary to collect the weight of the thick
walls.
B. Tomb Architecture
Tombs were constructed underground.
The Corbel method was used for vaults or pointed domes.
a. Methods of walling:
 Cyclopean
 Polygonal
 Rectangular
 Inclined blocks

C. The Hellenic Period
1. Temples were the principal buildings
2. Colonnades surround the temple
3. Greek architecture was essentially columnar and trabeated
a. Timber forms were imitated in stone with remarkable exactness. For this
reason, Greek architecture has been called “carpentry in marble”
b. The method of constructing the column was the mortise and tenon.
c. Entasis - a slight convex curve in the shaft of a column, introduced to correct
the visual illusion of concavity produced by a straight shaft. This was one of the
several refinements that were practiced by the Greeks to correct optical
illusions. Some of these, like the Parthenon, exemplify a most advanced
sensitivity to form. The stylobate has an upward curvature at its center of 2-
3/8" on the shorter sides and 4-5/16” on the longer sides.
Vertical columns were inclined inwards towards the top of 2-3/8".
Columns have the usual entasis, a slight curvature on the column’s profile.
Angle columns were stouter and set closer to the adjacent columns.
Letters were larger on the upper lines than on the lower.
4. Hellenic Buildings
a. Public buildings multiplied in number and became permanent structures.
b. The civic design developed and building groups were laid out on symmetrical
lines linked to colonnaded porticoes or ‘stoa’.
c. Town planning became new development.
d. The trabeated architecture was still usual but arches began to appear over wall
openings.
e. Greek cities were located upon the highest part for the ‘temenos’ or sacred
enclosure. A temenos is a piece of ground especially reserved and enclosed
as a sacred place.
 The Acropolis, Athens is
the best-known acropolis in
the world. Important and
sacred buildings were built
in the acropolis.

i. Propylaea - by Mnesicles, forms the imposing entrance to the Acropolis.
ii. Pinacotheca - contains
painted pictures.
iii. Temple of Athena, Nike -
dedicated to the wingless
victory.
iv. The Parthenon
v. Erechtheion
Odeion of Herodes Atticus
Odeion of Pericles
vi. Theater of Dionysus
vii. Old Temple of Athena
viii. Stoa of Eumenes
ix. The Altis, Olympia was the center of all religious activities during the
Olympics.
x. Delphi was the major site for the worship of the god Apollo
 Delos holds the position as a holy sanctuary and cult center in
ancient Greece. Delos was a sacred place with splendid buildings
and sanctuaries. It was included in the World Cultural Heritage,
protected by UNESCO.
5. Temple Architecture
Temples were not built for internal worship but with special regard for the outward
effect.
a. They stood upon a crepidoma of 3 or more steps.

b. Windows were rare and some were hypaethral (partly open to the sky)

c. On the ends of the temple roof is the tympana (sing. tympanum) filled with
sculptures. Tympanum – the triangular space enclosed by the horizontal and
raking cornices of a pediment often recessed and decorated with sculpture.
d. Parts of a Greek temple
 Pronaos - front portico.

 Epinaos/Opisthodomos - rear portico
 Naos - contains the statue of a god or goddess. The adyton is the most
sacred part of a temple.
e. Types of Temples
 According to the number of columns on the entrance front.

 According to the arrangement of exterior columns about the naos.
i. In-antis - 2-4 columns at the front.
ii. Prostyle - has a portico of columns at the front.
iii. Amphi-antis - 2-4 columns at the front and rear.
iv. Amphi-prostyle - has a portico of columns at the front and rear.
v. Peripteral - single line of columns at the front and rear.
vi. Pseudo-peripteral - flank of columns attached to the naos wall.
vii. Dipteral - double line of columns surrounding the naos.
viii. Pseudo-dipteral - like dipteral but the inner range of column is omitted
 In the Doric order, the intercolumniation is sometimes referred to in terms of
the number of triglyphs between columns. Intercolumniation spacing
(column spacing)
i. Monotriglyph : an interval of 1 triglyph
ii. Ditriglyph : an interval of 2 triglyphs
iii. Polytriglyph : an interval of more than 2 triglyphs
 The Greek Orders
An order consists of an upright
column, the base, the capital,
and the horizontal
entablature.
Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian
orders are the principal
external features of temples.
The Doric was the favorite of
the Greeks; the Corinthian
was the least used.
i. The Doric Order
o Masculine in quality
o Has no base
o Height is 4-6 1/2 x dia. of the base
o Has no flutes
ii. The Ionic Order
o 4-fronted capital
o Originated from nautilus shell and ram’s horn

o Has no frieze
o Has 24 flutes separated
by billets, not by arrises
o Has no attic base
o Height is 9 x dia. of base
iii. The Corinthian Order
o The acanthus leaf and
scroll play an important
role in Greek
ornamentation. Its
invention was due to
Callimachus who got the
idea from observing a
basket covered with a tile
over
the grave of a Corinthian
maiden.

o Most ornate of the classical orders with acanthus leaves and scrolls
o Has slender fluted
columns
o Has a base similar
to the ionic
o Height is 9-10 x
dia. Of base
6. Greek Mouldings
a. Refined
b. Delicate in contour
c. Due to the fine-grained
marble in which they were
carved
d. Due to the clear atmosphere
and continuous sunshine
which produced strong
shadows from slight
projections.
7. Greek Mouldings and their
usual ornaments
a. Cyma reversa (ogee): water-leaf and tongue
b. Cyma recta: anthemion (or honeysuckle)
c. Ovolo: egg and dart (or egg and tongue)
d. Astragal (or bead): bead and reel
e. Torus: the guilloche or plait ornament, or with bundles of leaves tied by hands
f. Corona: usually painted with the fret ornament (also called key pattern)
g. The fillet is a small plain face to separate other mouldings
h. The scotia is a deep hollow moulding
i. The cavetto is a simple hollow moulding
*The Fillet, Cavetto, and Scotia are generally plain mouldings

1. Aegean Architecture
a. Palace Architecture
i. The Palace of King
Minos, Knossos
 Rooms were
functionally
organized around a
large central court.
 The palace also had
extensive basement
storage areas,
artists’ workshops,
dining halls, and
sumptuous living
quarters (incl.
bathrooms) for the
noble ruling
families.
 The structures were
light and flexible,
rather than
monumental.
ii. The Palace, Tiryns is a hilltop citadel surrounded
by defensive walls. The masonry is of the
cyclopean type and short stretches of ashlar.

iii. The Lion Gate, Mycenae is the most famous feature of the Palace, Tiryns.
Above the huge lintel, corbelled stones form an arch, creating a triangle that
is filled with two lions carved in relief on either side of a sacred Minoan column.
The heads of the lions, now lost, were made of separate pieces of metal or
stone.
b. Tomb Architecture
i. Rock-cut or chamber tomb is
out within the slope of a hillside
and approached by a
passageway that is open in the
sky called the dromos.
 The Treasury of Atreus,
Mycenae (also known as
the tomb of Agamemnon).
ii. Tholos type is more elaborate;
a subterranean stone-vaulted
construction shaped like a
beehive.
2. Greek Architectural Examples
a. Doric Temples
i. The Parthenon, Athens
 A supreme example of
classical Greece
 Dedicated to Athena
Parthenos whose 12.8
m. the high statue was one of the most marvelous works of Phidias; made
of ivory and gold with eyes of precious stones.
 Designed by Ictinus and Callicrates
 The master sculptor was Phidias
 Peripheral octastyle in plan
 The naos known as ‘hecatompedon’ was named because they measure
100’ long.
ii. Temple of Zeus, Olympia
 Designed by Libon

 The most important building in the Altis is located at the very center
 A peripteral hexastyle with thirteen columns at the sides
 Contains the gold and ivory statue of Zeus by Phidias
b. Ionic Temples
i. Temple of Athena Nike, Apteros
 Dedicated to the Athena Nike (Wingless Victory)
 Designed by Callicrates
 Smallest structure in the Acropolis
 Symbolizes Athen’s military and political strength
ii. Temple of Apollo, Didyma
 Designed by Paeonius and Daphnis
 Roof was hypaethral
 Dipteral octastyle plan
 No opisthodomos
iii. Erechtheion, Athens
 Designed by Mnesicles
 Made of Pentelic and blue Eleusinian marble
 Has a caryatid porch of 6 draped female figures
 The Caryatid (maiden of Karyal), probably by Alcamanes, has become the
temple’s signature feature.
 It is a sculpted female figure serving as a column or a pillar supporting an
entablature on her head. A Canephora is a caryatid with a basket on her
head; used either as a support or as a freestanding garden ornament. An
Atlantes is a decorative column in the figure or half figure of a man.
iv. Temple of Artemis, Ephesus
 Designed by Demetrius, Paeonius, and Deinocrates
 One of the most impressive Greek temples
 One of the 7 wonders of the ancient world
 Dipteral octastyle at the front and enneastyle at the rear
v. Tholos Philippeion, Olympia
 Was begun by Philip of Macedonia and completed by Alexander
c. Corinthian Temples
i. Tholos, Epidaurus
 Astronomical monument

 Built by Polykleitos
 Peristyle in plan with 14 internal Corinthian columns
 The floor in black and white marble
ii. Temple of Olympian Zeus
 By Cossutius is renowned as the largest temple in Greece and housed one
of the largest cult statues in the ancient world
d. Greek Theaters
Greek theaters are open-air structures,
generally hollowed out of the slope of a
hillside.
 Parts of a Greek Theater:
i. Cavea or seating
ii. Diazoma - horizontal walkway
between the lower and upper
tiers of seats
iii. Orchestra - semicircular space
in front of the stage used by the chorus in ancient Greek theaters
iv. Paraskenia projecting wings on either side of the proscenium
v. ParodosSkene
vi. Proscenium - the part between the curtain and the orchestra
 Greek Examples
i. The Theater of Dionysus, Acropolis, Athens
o It was the first stone theater ever built - cut into the southern cliff face
of the Acropolis
o It was a major open-air theater that could seat 18,000 and was one of
the earliest theaters in the world, where plays were performed at
festivals in honor of the god Dionysus (God of wine)
ii. Theater Epidaurus by Polykleitos, is an impressive open-air theater
renowned for its nearly perfect architecture and acoustics.
o The acoustics in this theater is magnificent, and words spoken very
softly in the orchestra can be heard in the top rows.
o It is one of the most beautiful and symmetrically perfect of all Greek
theaters.

e. Public Buildings
i. Agora is an open place of assembly and a center of social and business life.
ii. Stoa - long, colonnaded covered walkways used around public places.
o Stoa of Attalos, now the Museum of Ancient. Agora has walls made of
limestone and Pentelic marble.
iii. Assembly Halls - for public assemblies.
o Telesterion, Eleusis by Ictinus was an assembly hall big enough to hold
thousands of people
iv. Bouleuterion (Council House) - the meeting place for the democratically-
elected councils. They were either rectangular or semi-circular in plan.
o Bouleuterion, Priene (also known as Ekklesiasterion), rectangular in plan,
has banked seats facing inwards on 3 sides.
o Bouleuterion, Ephesus is circular in plan.
v. Prytaneion (Town Hall) - senate house for the city council. The building
contained the holy fire of Hestia, the goddess of the hearth and symbol of the
life of the city.
vi. Odeion - kindred type to the theater, where musicians performed.
o Odeion of Herodes Atticus (161 AD) was hewn from the rock of the
Acropolis with a seating capacity of 5,000. It was built in 161 AD by
Herodes Atticus in memory of his wife, Aspasia Annia Regilla.
vii. Stadium - a foot racecourse where games were celebrated.
o Stadium, Olympia was the oldest stadium in Greece. The ancient Olympic
games were held on this site.
o Stadium, Epidaurus has a track length of 180 m. and width of 21.5 m.
o Panathenaic Stadium (Kallimarmaro), Athens, Greece was excavated in
1870 and rebuilt to host the first modern Olympics in 1896. It can seat
80,000 spectators.
viii. Hippodrome - for horse and chariot-racing
ix. Palaestra - a wrestling school. The palaestra functioned both independently
and as a part of public gymnasia.
x. Gymnasium - a place for physical exercises
f. Tombs
 Mausoleum, Halicarnassus was erected for King Mausolus by his wife. From
it, was derived the term ‘mausoleum’ for monumental tombs. Covered with
white marble, its beauty and uniqueness made it one of the 7 wonders of the

ancient world. It was designed by Pythius and Satyrus with Scopas as the
master sculptor.
g. Domestic Architecture
One worry of all homeowners in classical times was the house. The threat of an
intruder filled the mind of the man of the family, especially when away from the
house. Both work and war kept the man away from his home, leaving an invitation
for neighborhood men and outsiders to have their way with his wife, daughter/s,
and son/s, and the family’s belongings. The lack of home security brought the
pressure of protecting the house and everything within to a challenging
height. The Greek term ‘oikos’ is equivalent to a man’s area, which is the space
that he has the sole responsibility to protect so that present and future generations
can dwell in the home already prepared by the man.
Most homes in ancient Greece had a courtyard, which was the center of activity.
Houses were made out of sun-dried brick on a foundation of stones.
Homes were divided into areas for men and areas for women.
The ‘adron’ was a room reserved for males to entertain male guests.
The nicest ancient Greek houses used colored pebbles to create mosaics.
VI. Definition of Terms
1. Acroterium - a pedestal for a sculpture or ornament at the apex, or at each of the
lower corners of a pediment. Also called acroterion.
2. Altar - an elevated place or structure upon which sacrifices are offered or incense
burned in worship, or before which religious rites are performed.
3. Antefix - an upright ornament at the eaves of a tile roof concealing the foot of
a row of convex tiles that cover the joints of the flat tiles.
4. Architrave - the lowermost division of a classical entablature, resting directly on the
column
capitals and supporting the frieze.
5. Atlas - a sculptured figure of a man used as a column. Also called telamon.
6. Base - the lowermost portion of a wall, column, pier, or other structure, usually
distinctively treated and considered as an architectural unit.
7. Bed molding – the molding or group of moldings immediately beneath the corona of a
cornice.
8. Capital - the distinctively treated upper end of a column, pillar, or pier, crowning the
shaft and taking the weight of the entablature or architrave.
9. Caryatid - a sculpted female figure used as a column. Also called canephora.

10. Cella - the principal chamber or enclosed part of a classical temple, where the cult
image was kept. Also called naos.
11. Citadel – a fortress, typically on high ground, protecting or dominating a city.
12. Column - a cylindrical support in classical architecture, consisting of a
capital, shaft, and usually a base, either monolithic or built up of drums the full diameter
of the shaft.
13. Columniation - the use or arrangement of columns in a structure.
14. Corinthian order - the most ornate of the five classical orders, developed by the
Greeks in the 4th century B.C. but used more extensively in Roman architecture, similar
in most respects to the Ionic but usually of slender proportions and characterized esp.
by a deep bell-shaped capital decorated with acanthus leaves and an abacus with
concave sides.
15. Cornice - cornice or cap.
16. Cornice - the uppermost member of a classical entablature, consisting typically
of a cymatium, corona, and bed molding.
17. Corona – the projecting slab-like member of a classical cornice, supported by the bed
molding and crowned by the cymatium.
18. Cymatium – the crowning member of a classical cornice, usually a cyma recta.
19. Dado - the part of a pedestal between the base and the cornice or cap. Also called die.
20. Doric order - the oldest and simplest of the five classical orders, developed in Greece
in the 7th century B.C. and later imitated by the Romans, characterized by a fluted
column having no base, a plain cushion-shaped capital supporting a square abacus,
and an entablature consisting of a plain architrave, a frieze of triglyphs and metopes,
and a cornice, the corona of which has mutules on its soffit. In the Roman Doric order,
the columns are slenderer and usually have bases, the channeling is sometimes altered
or omitted, and the capital consists of a bandlike necking, an echinus, and a molded
abacus.
21. Entablature - the horizontal section of a classical order that rests on the columns,
usually composed of cornice, frieze, and architrave.
22. Epinaos - the rear vestibule of a classical temple. Also called opisthodomos, posticum.
23. Frieze - the horizontal part of a classical entablature between the cornice and
architrave, often decorated with sculpture in low relief.
24. Greek temple - a temple built as a shrine to the ancient Greek god or goddess to whom
it was dedicated. Since the temple was not intended for internal worship. It was built
with special regard for external effects. It stood on a stylobate of three or more steps,

with a cella containing the statue of the deity and front and rear porticoes, the whole
being surmounted by a low gable roof of timber, covered in terra-cotta or marble tiles.
25. Intercolumniation - the space between two adjacent columns, usually the clear space
between the lower parts of the shafts, measured in diameters. Also, a system for
spacing columns in a colonnade is based on this measurement.
26. Ionic order - a classical order that developed in the Greek colonies of Asia Minor in
the 6th century B.C., characterized esp. by the spiral volutes of its capital. The fluted
columns typically had molded bases and supported an entablature consisting of an
architrave of three fasciae, a richly ornamented frieze, and a cornice corbelled out on
egg-and-dart and dentil moldings. Roman and Renaissance examples are often more
elaborate, and usually set the volutes of the capitals 45° to the architrave.
27. Order - any of five styles of classical architecture characterized by the type and
arrangement of columns and entablatures employed, such as the Doric, Ionic,
Corinthian, Tuscan, and Composite orders.
28. Pedestal - a construction upon which a column, statue, memorial shaft, or the like, is
elevated, usually consisting of a cornice or cap, a dado, and a base.
29. Pediment - a wide, low-pitched gable surmounting a colonnade or a major
division of a façade.
30. Plinth - the usually square slab beneath the base of a column, pier, or pedestal.
31. Pronaos - an open vestibule before the cella of a classical temple. Also called anticum.
32. Shaft - the central part of a column or pier between the capital and the
base.
33. Stereobate - a solid mass of masonry visible above ground level and serving as the
foundation of a building, esp. the platform forming the floor and substructure of a
classical temple. Also called crepidoma, podium.
34. Stylobate - a course of masonry forming the foundation for a row of columns, esp. the
outermost colonnade of a classical temple.
35. Tympanum - the triangular space enclosed by the horizontal and raking cornices of a
pediment, often recessed and decorated with sculpture.
36. Accouplement - the placement of two columns or pilasters very close together
Synthesis Activity
1. Reflection Question: Give one important contribution of Aegean and Greek architecture
to the development of architecture as we know it today. Why do you say so?

References
A book you can trust (2011). Greece in bible history. Retrieved from
https://www.jw.org/en/library/magazines/g201103/greece-in-bible-history
Macaso, J. A. (2018). Imhotep tables. Retrieved from
https://www.academia.edu/34447660/IMHOTEP_Tables_by_KD_-_V.05.05_1_
National Geographic (2018, Apr. 22). Ancient Greece 101. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bDrYTXQLu8
Philippines.

Topic 7. TUSCAN AND ROMAN ARCHITECTURE
2. Appreciate the importance of studying Tuscan and Roman architecture.
3. Illustrate the characteristic features of Tuscan and Roman architecture
Watch: Rome: Ancient Glory. Source: https://youtu.be/PKKMCcaoUkc

a. Choose one (1) term/concept associated with Tuscan and Roman Architecture. Look
for the definition of the term and provide illustrations as examples.
Discussion
I. Facts About Rome

a. Etruscan architecture - the
architecture of the Etruscan
people in west-central Italy from
the 8th to 3rd centuries B.C.,
before the rise of Rome. Its
construction methods, esp. that
of the true stone arch, influenced
later Roman architecture.
b. Roman architecture - the
architecture of the ancient
Roman people, characterized by

massive brick and concrete
construction employing
such features as the
semicircular arch, the
barrel, and groin vaults,
and the dome, simplicity,
and grandeur of massing
often combined with
elaborate detailing, the
elaboration of the Greek
orders as purely decorative
motifs for the adornment of
facades and interiors, and the use of marble linings, mosaics, and molded stucco in
interiors.
II. Influence on Roman Architecture
 The central and commanding position of Italy in the Mediterranean enabled Rome
to act as an intermediary in spreading art and civilization over Europe, West Asia,
and North Africa.
 The methods adopted by Rome for extending her influence is through conquest
not through colonization
 Terra cotta, brick, marble, tufa (soft
volcanic stone), peperino (hard
limestone),
pozzolana (volcanic earth).
 Concrete was the favored material. It
is a mixture of pozzolana and stone or
brick
rubble.
 Temperate in North Italy
 Genial and sunny in Central Italy
 Tropical in South Italy

 The climate accounts for a diversity of architectural treatment and features.
D. Historical and Social Influences
 In early times, Etruria, in west-central Italy was occupied by the Etruscans.
 Rome was under Etruscan domination.
 In the 6th century, BC Rome increased dominance.
 Carthage (under Hannibal Barca) was defeated by Rome and it became a Roman
province.
 A professional army gave rise to a succession of a military dictatorship led by Julius
Caesar.
 After Julius Caesar’s assassination, he was succeeded by Gaius Octavius (his
nephew), the first ruler of the Roman empire. His reorganization of the Roman world
into an empire gave him the title “imperator” and “Augustus”.
 The Augustan age was regarded as a golden age.
 Pax Romana was established in celebration of Rome’s recovery.
 Octavius was later succeeded by Hadrian whose reign was also regarded as the
2nd Golden Age.
 Constantine rose to power. 2 of his acts were:
o Accepted Christianity as a
religion
o Chose Byzantium as the
headquarters of the empire
and later inaugurated as
Constantinopolis.
E. Religious Influence
 Chief Roman gods acquired
similar attributes to those of the
Greeks. Every house
had an altar, worship was
recognized as part of religious
rites.

A. Etruscan Architectural Character
1. True radiating arch
2. Tuscan order (4th order) was a simpler version of the Doric, has an unfluted shaft
and a simplified base, capital, and entablature.
3. Atrium type of house
4. Etruscan temple
B. Characteristics of Roman Architecture
1. Vastness and magnificence
2. Ostentation and ornateness
A. Etruscan Architecture
a. Methods of construction
i. Columnar and trabeated
ii. Arcuated
iii. Vaulted
b. The Composite order (5th order) was developed by combining the volutes of the
Ionic and the acanthus of the Corinthian
B. Roman Orders
a. Tuscan Order
b. Composite Order

C. Roman Wall Masonry
a. Opus Quadratum - rectangular and square blocks of stones in regular ashlar
courses.
b. Opus Incertum - small rough stones with pyramidal ends set irregularly in mortar.
c. Opus Reticulatum - square stones set diagonally, forming a net-like pattern.
d. Opus Testaceum - brick facing with pyramidal ends.
e. Opus Mixtum - alternation of courses of bricks and small squared stones.
D. Roman Arches and Vaults

 Concrete allowed the Romans to build vaults of a magnitude never equaled until
the production of steel in the 19th century.
 Concrete had the advantage
over stone:
 Can accommodate complicated
plan forms
 Has greater cohesion
 Economical
 Easier to use than stone-cutting
E. Types of Roman Vaults
1. Semi-circular or Barrel or Wagon-
headed or Tunnel vault - borne
throughout its length on the two
parallel walls of a rectangular plan.
2. Cross vault - formed of 2 semi-
circular vaults of equal span.
3. Semi-dome - used over semi-
circular structures.
4. Hemispherical dome - used over circular structures. Concrete vaults were often
lightened by recesses or coffers (lacunaria) on the underside.

F. Marble Mosaic Patterns
1. Opus Vermiculatum -
produced pictorial patterns.
2. Opus Sectile - produced
geometrical patterns.
3. Opus Spicatum -
herringbone or chevron
pattern.
G. Roman Buttress
A buttress is a masonry
projecting from a wall, provided to give
additional strength to the same, and also
resist the thrust of the roof or wall,
especially when concentrated at any one
point.
H. Types of Roman Buttresses
1. Niche/Hemicycle - for retaining earth
2. Spur buttress - used where large
openings for doors and windows were
needed.
3. Pinnacle buttress - placed on top of a
spur buttress to help by their weight
drive the oblique thrust more steeply to
earth.
I. Roman Mouldings
Architectural Examples
A. Examples of Etruscan Architecture
1. Walled City of Falerii Novi with funeral cells and niches along the walls.
2. Cloaca Maxima was one of the earliest sewage systems.
3. Arch of Augustus, Perugia, Italy is the main entrance of this historic city.

4. Necropolis, Cerveteri is an ancient
Etruscan burial city. Tombs were of
tumulus type and chamber tombs
laid out symmetrically like a town
for the living.
5. Underground Etruscan Tombs in
Tarquinia with stairs going to the
underground chambers.
6. Temple of Jupiter, Capitolinus,
Cloaca Maxima
Rome was the most important
temple. In ancient Rome, located on Capitoline Hill.
B. Public Buildings
1. Forum - the public square or
marketplace of the ancient Roman
city, the center of judicial and
business affairs, and a place of
assembly for the people, usually
including a basilica and a temple.
a. Imperial Forums - consists of a
series of monumental public
squares.
Roman Forum
b. Forum Romanum is - the oldest
and the most important in the
city.
c. Forum of Trajan - largest of the
forums.
2. Rectangular temples - Roman
temples are a mixture of Greek and
Etruscan types. The typical portico
and podium were Etruscan in type
while they resembled the Greek in
Temple of Jupiter, Capitolinus
many respects. No particular
orientation of temples compared to
the Greeks facing east and Etruscans facing south.
a. Temple of Vespasian by Domitian, is known for its ornate entablature

b. Temple of Venus and Rome was
designed for Hadrian by
Appolodorus and Damascus.
c. Temple of Mars Ultor, Rome was
dedicated to Mars by Augustus to
avenge the
death of Caesar.
d. Maison Carree, Nimes is the best-
preserved Roman temple.
e. Temple of Jupiter, Baalbek,
Lebanon was
commenced by
Antonius Pius. The
substructure of the
temple is formed of
gigantic blocks of
stone known as the
Trilithon.
f. Temple of Bacchus,
Baalbek the coffered
timber ceiling was an
astonishingly Plan of a Rectangular Roman Temple
luxuriant concept.
3. Circular temples
a. The Pantheon is the most
perfectly preserved ancient
Roman temple.
 Its Rotunda was erected
by Hadrian and the
Temple by Agrippa, son-
in-law
of Augustus.
The Pantheon
 It has a 30 ft. diameter
dome and the largest ever built without reinforcement.

 The oculus (eye) admits light to the
dome’s interior.
b. Temple of Vesta, Rome was the most
sacred shrine in the Imperial city.
c. Temple of Venus, Baalbek has a curved
inward entablature as its decorative
feature.
4. Basilica - hall of justice and commercial
exchange. Their central position indicates the
importance of law and business in old Rome.
a. The Basilica of Trajan was designed by
Trajan’s chief architect Apollodorus.
b. Basilica of Constantine and Maxentius has
immense groined vaults in 3
compartments.
5. Thermae - bathing played an
important role in the life of
ancient Rome, as a significant
part of its culture. Bathing
represented a ‘social’ activity,
conducted mostly in the public
baths called thermae.
Thermaes were not just a place
for bathing, but the people there
socialized, painted, read, or exercised.
A thermae:
 Is the palatial public baths of Imperial Rome
 Is designed for luxurious bathing
 Has a staff of attendants like manicurists, barbers, and shampooers
 Has room for lectures and areas for athletic sports

Parts of a thermae:
a. Main building
 Tepidarium (warm bath or steam) - the specially of a tepidarium is the
pleasant feeling of constant radiant heat which directly affects the human
body from the walls and floor.
 Caldarium (hot bath) - this was a very hot and steamy room. This was
the hottest room in the regular sequence of bathing rooms; after the
caldarium, bathers would progress back through the tepidarium to
the frigidarium. In the caldarium, there would be a bath of hot water
sunk into the floor and there was sometimes even a laconicum - a
hot dry area for inducing sweating.
 Frigidarium (unheated bath) - the caldarium and then tepidarium opened the
pores of the skin. The cold water would close the pores. There would be a
small pool of cold water or sometimes a large swimming pool.
 Other amenities:
o Sudatorium (dry sweating room)
o Apodyterium (dressing room)
o Unctuaria (oil room)
o Palaestra (for physical exercise)
b. Xystus - open space for foot-racing
c. Outer ring of apartments - lecture rooms and exedrae for poets and
philosophers.
d. Thermae Heating System - a hypocaust is the central floor heating system in
thermae. The floor was raised above the ground by pillars, called pilae stacks
(‘slippers’).

e. Roman Latrines - the western world owes its allegiance to the plumbing
engineering of the old Roman empire. It was the ancient Romans who
introduced latrines in public places. Latrines were designed with a deep channel
running around the four sides of a rectangular space. Over the channel, there
are marble benches pierced with holes.
Examples:
a. The Thermae of Caracalla can accommodate 1,600 bathers with its size and
magnificence.
b. The Thermae of
Diocletian, Rome
can accommodate
3,000 bathers, was
the grandest and the
most sumptuous of
the public baths,
built by successive
emperors. Its
restored frigidarium
is now converted
into a church, the S.
Maria
degli Angeli.
6. Balneum - small private
baths in palaces and houses.
a. Stabian baths, Pompeii is
the oldest bath house in
Pompeii
b. Forum baths, Pompeii
7. Theaters - were adopted
from the Greeks and
restricted to a semi-circle.
Roman theaters were not
Plan of a Roman Theater

hollowed out of a
mountainside but were built
up using concrete vaulting.
a. Theater of Marcellus,
Rome was dedicated to
Augustus.
8. Amphitheaters - for the
display of mortal combats.
The arena (sand) absorbs the
blood of the combatants.
The Colosseum also known
as the Flavian amphitheater
was commenced by
Vespasian and completed by
Domitian. It can seat a
capacity of over 80,000. The
structural problems involved
were engineering in character Plan of a Roman Amphitheater
because the Romans built the gigantic edifice without scooping the earth. Here is
an entirely new departure made possible by the invention of concrete.
The parts of concrete used were:
a. Lava for foundation
b. Tufa and brick for walls
c. Pumice stone for vaults to reduce their weight
Special architectural features:
a. Massive piers support the 3 tiers of countries' arcades.

b. Decorative use of the classic orders superimposed on the walls.
c. Grand sweeping lines of the unbroken entablature around the building.
d. Spoliarium is a chamber beneath an arena, where the bodies of dead gladiators
are dragged and piled.
The Colosseums were also used for mock naval battles (naumachia). Water
pipes were used for flooding the arena.
9. Circus- for horse and chariot racing.

a. Carceres - stalls that held the contestants’ chariots and horses.

b. Spina - dividing wall at the center.
Example
 Circus Maximus, Rome is an ancient hippodrome and mass entertainment

venue.
10. Tombs
Five (5) classes of tombs
a. Coemeteria or Subterranean vault -
contains the columbaria and loculi.
 Columbaria - niches that
receive the ashes of the dead.
 Loculi - recesses for corpses.
b. Monumental tombs - resemble
Etruscan tumuli with a conical crown
of earth. Columbaria
 Mausoleum of Hadrian (now the
Castle of S. Angelo
c. Pyramidal tombs - taken from
Egyptian ideas. Pyramid of
Cestius, Rome.
d. Temple-shaped tombs - have
mortuary chapels with
colonnaded portico and
sepulchral vault.
 Mausoleum of
Diocletian (now Monumental Tombs

Cathedral of St.
Dominus) is listed in
the
UNESCO World
Heritage Site.
e. Sculptured memorials -
cenotaphs or monumental
blocks in honor of persons
buried elsewhere.
 Tomb of Novella Temple Tombs
Tyche, Pompeii
11. Triumphal arches -
erected to emperors and
generals commemorating
victorious
campaigns.
a. Arch of Constantine
b. Arch of Trajan
c. Arch of Titus
12. Rostral columns -
Triumphal Arch
erected to celebrate naval
victories, decorated with prows of ships
and figures
13. Pillars of Victory - columns erected to
record triumphs.
14. Town gateways and Archways - three (3)
types of town gateways:
a. Forming part of the protective wall
circuit
 Porte de Mars, Relms, France
b. Ornamental portals to forums and
markets
 Portico of Octavia, Rome
c. At main street intersections Rostral Column of Gaius Duilius

 Arch of Caracalla, Tebessa, N.
Africa
15. Palace Architecture
The word palace comes from Palatine hill,
where a group of magnificent palaces was
built by emperors Augustus, Tiberius,
Caliguia, Domitian, and Severus.
d. Palaces of the Emperors, Palatine Hill
e. Palace of Diocletian, Split, Croatia
16. Domestic Architecture
a. Domus (private house) - the Roman
domus was the home of the wealthy
Victory Pillar of Marcus Aurelius
and the
middle class. The Etruscan
atrium house and the
traditional Greek peristyle
house are combined to
make a modern Roman
domus.
Parts of a domus:
 Prothyrum or
entrance passage
 Atrium
Palace of Diocletian
 Tablinum or living
room
 Cubicula or bedrooms
 Triclinia or dining room
 Oecus or reception room
 Alae or recesses for conversation
 Culina or kitchen
b. Villa (country house) - was the summer
house for the wealthy Romans. Types of
Roman villa:

 Villa Rustica
(countryside villa)
was a glorified
farmhouse with
barns, orchards,
and vineyards for
the owner of the
estate.
 Villa Urbana was a
pleasure retreat with
formal gardens adorned with fountains and sculptures.
 Hadrian’s Villa was a complex of over 30 buildings.
c. Insula (apartment
block) - was a
house for the lower
classes. The floor at
the ground level
was used for shops,
with the living space
on the higher floors.
The
Romans were the
first civilization to
utilize flats and
apartments. The
insula was 6- 8
storeys, cheaply-made with brick-faced concrete. They were fire traps, with no
running water.
17. Aqueducts - are water
channels or water bridges
constructed to convey water.
a. Specus - water-
conveying duct

b. Opus Signinum - a special mixture of ground terra cotta and lime used for the
lining of water channels, aqueducts, and reservoirs.
Examples:
a. Pont-du-Gard, Nimes, France was listed in UNESCO World Heritage Site

in 1985.
b. Aqua Claudia, Rome was begun by Emperor Caligula and completed by
Claudius.
c. Aqueduct, Segovia, Spain
18. Bridges (pons) - are simple,
solid, and practical in
construction, and designed
to offer a well-calculated
resistance to the rush of
water.
a. Pons Fabricius, Rome -
it is the oldest bridge in
Rome still in use; made
from bricks and travertine stones.
b. Pons Mivius, Rome - it was built by Marcus Aemillus Scaurus, has semicircular
arches over massive piers with protecting ‘starlings’ or cut-waters and extra
arches above them to allow the flood waters to pass through.
c. Puente Romano, Merida, Spain (25 BC) is the longest of the remaining Roman
bridges.
19. Roads - the first roads
were set for
commercial
exchanges, military
transfers, and more
rapid conquest of
other new countries.
The Appia Antica
(Appian way) - is an
ancient Roman highway that was named for Appius Claudius Caecus, who began
its construction in 312 BC. The highway, which runs from Rome to Capua and later

to Brindisi, is lined with the ruins of the tombs of prominent Romans. The Appian
way was once one of the world’s most important roads and the most famous of all
the roads that radiated from Rome towards the far ends of the Roman empire. The
Appian way has the best-preserved section of the Roman landscape in ancient
times. It has been designed as part of a regional park and is recognized as a prime
example of a Greenway. It was designed for human and animal-powered traffic.
The Appian way stones, closely fitting polygonal blocks of basalt, sit on top of layers
of small rocks or stones cemented with lime. The roadway was 15 ft. (4.6 m.) wide
enough to allow two chariots to pass. The Appian way has a total length of more
than 563 km. (350 ml.), it used to be known as the ‘Regina Viarum’, the queen of all
roads.
20. Fountains - existed mainly in courts and gardens of private houses. There are two
(2) types of fountains.
a. Lacus is a fountain
with a large basin of
water.
b. Salientes is a
spouting jet fountain.
21. Seven Wonders of
Ancient Rome
a. The Colosseum
b. The Pantheon
c. The Appian Way
d. Thermae of Caracalla
e. The Aqueduct
f. Trajan’s Forum
g. Circus Maximus
Synthesis Activity
1. Reflection Question: Give one important contribution of Tuscan and Roman architecture
to the development of architecture as we know it today. Why do you say so?

References
A book you can trust (2011). Rome in bible history. Retrieved from
https://www.jw.org/en/library/magazines/g201104/rome-in-bible-history
National Geographic (2018, Feb. 24). Ancient Rome 101. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXoEpNjgKzg
Philippines.

Topic 8. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS: GREECE AND ROMAN ARCHITECTURE: A
SUPPLEMENT
1. Learn the similarities and differences between Architecture of the Greece and Rome
styles.
Discussion
Description Greek Roman
1. Plans  Plans display simplicity, beauty,  Plans convey an impression of

and perfection of proportions vastness and magnificence and
which give dignity and grandeur are characteristic of a powerful
despite the smallness of scale. and energetic race.
 Unity and symmetry resulted  The Romans were pre-
from the self-contained eminently great constructors,
character of the temples, while and by the invention of
varied and unsymmetrical concrete were able to erect
grouping occurs only in certain public buildings of enormous
buildings. size, like the thermae and
 The post and beam or basilicas, besides many types
trabeated form of construction of utilitarian structures, such as
made for aqueducts and bridges required
simplicity and did not lend itself by the expanding civilization of
to such variety and boldness of the Roman empire.
plan as did the arcuated  The arch, vault, and dome were
Roman style. the keynotes to the system of
 There is no mingling of construction. The arch made it
constructive principles in Greek possible to span wide
buildings and the structural openings; vaults and domes
limitations of the trabeated style could be thrown over large and
prevented the novel complicated plans in which
developments to which the square and semicircular
arcuated style gave rise. The recesses give boldness and
true arch with voussoirs was variety, while the combination
not used, but the Treasury of of trabeated and arcuated
Atreus, Mycaenae, is roofed styles permits novel types of
by a vault with the stones laid plans.
horizontal, each stone  The true arch with wedge-
overlapping the one below, shaped blocks was continued
till the crown is reached. This from Etruscan times.
type of roofing limited the size  Intersecting vaults concentrated
and form of the building. the weight of the superstructure
on piers, instead of distributing

 Greek temples were usually it along a continuous wall as in
oriented so that the rising sun the Temple of Diana, Nimes (a
might light up the statue. step towards Gothic methods of
construction).
 Roman temples, regardless of
orientation, faced the adjacent
forum to be
easy to access.
2. Walls  The use of marble influenced  The Romans revolutionized
the style; large blocks were wall construction through the
rubbed down by slaves after use of concrete. This novel and
being fixed in position and thus durable building material was
gave the smoothest surface not special to any country, as it
finish. was made up of fragments of
 Coarse stone was frequently hard stone, or quarry debris
covered with polished marble mixed with lime, found in all
stucco to produce the same parts of the Roman empire.
effect, as at Paestum. This concrete was faced
 The joints between the marble externally with various
blocks fitted so exactly as to materials, such as stone, brick,
be almost invisible. Mortar was and stucco, and was decorated
unnecessary because the internally with beautiful marble,
blocks were so truly laid that alabaster, and porphyry
the stability of walls depend attached to the walls by metal
solely on the laws of gravity. cramps. These walls were
 Metal cramps, however, composite and thus differed
sometimes connected the essentially from those of the
blocks longitudinally. The Anta Greeks.
was employed to emphasize  The pilaster, which corresponds
and strengthen the angles of to the Anta, was used
naos walls. decoratively on walls instead of
half-columns.
3. Openings  Colonnades, by providing  Colonnades and the new
variety in the play of light and system of arcades were both in
shade on the walls behind, use internally and externally,
rendered openings in walls of and the latter occur in storeys
minor importance in the design one above the other as in the
of the exterior, and indeed Colosseum. Thus, colonnades
colonnades are the outstanding were largely superseded by
features of Greek architecture. arches and column-faced piers.
 Doorways were square-headed  Doorways were both square
and often crowned with a and semicircular-headed and
cornice supported by consoles became decorative features of
as in the fine north doorway of importance in the external
the Erechtheion, Athens. design of large public buildings,
 Windows, except on rare as in the Pantheon, Rome.
occasions, were not used in  Windows, generally
temples, as the light was semicircular-headed, were
obtained from doorways, frequently divided vertically by
hypaethral or clearstory two mullions; but sometimes
openings, and perhaps also they were segmental, a shape
produced after the removal of

through transparent alabaster the wooden centering, by filling
roof slabs in the side space vertically
above the springing line.
4. Roofs  Extreme care was bestowed  Vaults and domes constituted

upon the construction of the the chief architectural change,
highly finished sloping roofs and were often coffered, as in
of temples. These were of the thermae and the Pantheon.
timber framing covered with  Timber framing also appears to
large slabs of marble, finished have been employed for
at the eaves with carved temples, and according to
antefixae. Horace, there were splendid
 The acroteria or blocks of wooden coffered ceilings in the
marble at the apex and lower larger houses.
angles of the pediment, also  Roof coverings were of
carved with statuary or terracotta, as amongst the
ornaments, were characteristic Etruscans, of marble or bronze
features. as in the Pantheon. Vitruvius
 Ceilings of peristyles were says flat roofs were used, as in
coffered in square or the thermae.
rectangular panels of carved  Ceilings of peristyles were
marble, as in the Theseion, coffered with geometric
the Parthenon, and the Temple patterns of octagons and
of Apollo Epicurius. Coffered squares in combination, as in
timber ceilings were probably the temples at Baalbek, Syria.
employed over the naos.  Apses of temples and basilicas
were covered with coffered
semi-domes, as in the Temple
of Venus and Rome.
5. Columns  The Orders were necessary  The Orders were often used
features of the trabeated in conjunction with the pier
system of construction and the and arch and then lost their
column with the beam or structural importance and
entablature is the essence of became chiefly decorative,
Greek architecture. as in the Colosseum and
 Columns were usually Triumphal arches.
constructed as ‘drums’ and the  Columns were usually unfluted
fluting was carried out after the monoliths, fluting being
shafts were in position. unsuitable to granite and
 Orders were superimposed, veined marble.
except in interiors of temples.  Orders were often
They stood on stepped superimposed, as in the
stylobates, and the only Colosseum.
instance of pedestals  The Romans introduced
supporting columns appears to pedestals on which they placed
have been in the Temple of the column to secure greater
Artemis, Ephesus. height. Canons of proportions,
as formulated by Vitruvius,

 There were only three Orders were gradually standardized for
and their proportions seem to all the Orders, which the
have been determined Romans increased to five by
experimentally. The Tuscan adding the Tuscan and
Order, an even simpler form Composite. The Tuscan Order
than the Doric, was used by has an unfluted shaft with a
the Greeks. The Doric Order, base and simple capital and
sturdy and dignified, was their entablature. The Doric Order,
national Order and used in the little used by the Romans, was
most important buildings, which perhaps too severely simple for
were temples. It was without a the style of buildings they
base but on a stylobate, and required. The Temple of
the capital has a plain square Hercules, Cora, is the only
abacus, beneath which is the Roman temple in this style, but
echinus, which has a varying engaged Doric columns occur
outline. in the Theater of Marcellus. The
 Columns are usually fluted, and Romans added a base, varied
from being extremely sturdy the abacus and echinus, and
became more slender in their added a dentil course to the
proportions. The vertical plane cornice.
of the architrave projects in  The columns were less sturdy
advance of the face of the and flutes were sometimes
column, and the triglyphs are omitted. The architrave does
over the central axes of the not project beyond the face of
columns except at the angles, the column but is in the same
where the triglyph is at the plane with it, and the triglyphs
extremity of the frieze. The in the frieze were over the
channels in triglyphs are central axes of the columns,
rounded at the top. The even at the angles. The
mutules, over triglyphs and channels in triglyphs are
metopes, slope downwards rectangular at the top. The
with the soffit and project mutules, usually over the
beneath it. The Ionic Order was triglyph only, are but slightly
used with the great refinement inclined, and do not project
of line by the Greeks. The below the soffit. The Ionic
distinctive capital has the Order of the Romans was
scrolls showing on two sides less refined. Some late
only, although angle volutes are examples, such as those at
found at Basse. The Pompeii and the Temples of
Corinthian Order was little used Saturn, have angle volutes,
by the Greeks and was thus showing the scroll on all
introduced late in the Hellenic four sides. The Corinthian
period, although the earliest Order was the favorite of
known example in the Temple Romans, and was used in the
of Apollo Epicurius, Bass, dates largest temples, as those of
from BC 430. Castor and Pollux and
 The Order appears to have Vespasian, Rome. The capital
been used principally in small is very ornate and the leaves
buildings, such as the surrounding the ‘bell’ are often
Monument of Lysicrates and naturalistic and derived from
the Tower of the Winds, the leaves of the Acanthus
Athens. The Olympeioen, motifs, which are blunt-ended

Athens may be considered a and flat in section, or from the
Roman building or rather Greek olive leaf,
design mainly carried out by as in the Temple of Castor
Roman craftsmen. The and Pollux. The entablature is
Acanthus leaves surrounding rich in carved ornament; the
the ‘bell’ of the capital were of architrave has many decorative
the prickly acanthus types mouldings; the frieze is
(Acanthus spinosus) having frequently carved with acanthus
pointed leaves of v-shaped scroll or figure ornaments, while
section. Shafts of columns were the cornice has carved
fluted, as described at the mouldings, surmounted by
commencement of this section. modillions (consoles, brackets,
The Composite Order was or corbels) which give apparent
unknown to the Greeks, but a support to the corona and have
somewhat similar treatment is sculptured coffers between
seen in the carved anthemion them. Shafts of columns were
ornament on the necking of fluted or plain. The Composite
the capitals in the Erechtheion. Order, invented by the
Romans, was used. In
Triumphal Arches, the
entablature follows the
Corinthian.
6. Mouldings  The Greeks relied on the effect  The Romans, on the contrary,
of the graceful contour of relied on mouldings for the
their mouldings, which effect of the abundance of
approach conic sections in carving rather than on the
profile and are often decorated contours, which are usually
with carvings of so delicate a parts of circles in profile.
character as not to  Ostentation replaces
be obscure but enhance the refinement, and when every
grace of the outlines. moulding is covered with
 Executed in fine marble, carving a wealth of surface
mouldings were often undercut decoration is produced though
to produce a fretted effect. often coarse in workmanship,
Greek dentils are far apart and which is sometimes due to the
occupy the whole depth of the stone employed. Roman dentils
moulding. are close together and finished
 Greek consoles were used only with a fillet below. Roman
as vertical brackets to door consoles were used also
cornices, as in the horizontally in cornices and
Erechtheion. vertically as keystones.
7. Ornaments  The sculpture of the Greeks  The Romans recognized the

has never been equaled, pre-eminence of the Greeks in
whether executed in isolated sculpture or painting, and so
groups of statuary or within the Greek artists were employed
boundaries of an architectural and Greek sculpture was prized
framing, as in the pediments, and copied. In later times both
metopes, and friezes of the vaults and floors were covered
Parthenon. It is generally held with mosaic, often very coarse
that the exteriors of temples in treatment. In the marble wall-

were colored on a carefully facings and floors, good effects
prepared fine cement or marble were produced, as the Romans
surface, and this must have were connoisseurs in the use of
added greatly to the general marble.
effect. Polygnotus and other  The ox-heads connected by
great artists were employed for garlands, so frequently carved
decorative painting on temples in Roman friezes, originated in
and other buildings, and part of the actual skills and garlands
the Propylene was known as hung on the altars after the
the Painted Loggia. The early beasts themselves had been
frescoes were probably in the slain.
style of the vase paintings of  A fine marble cement was
that period, while the later if frequently used as a covering
judged from the provincial for walls and stone columns, to
imitations at Pompeii, must form a ground on which
have been grand and paintings could be executed, as
decorative. The Anthemion or at Pompeii. The frescoes on the
Honeysuckle was the walls of the Roman thermae
characteristic motif of Greek largely influenced the fresco
surface ornament and also of decoration of the Renaissance
cyma recta mouldings. period. The Acanthus scroll,
 The Greeks, consciously or boldly carved with continuous
unconsciously, practiced stem and spirals, is especially
extreme simplicity in art, and characteristic of Roman
the fine-grained marble that ornament and friezes.
they worked on encouraged the  The Romans never seem to
tendency to leave purity of have been satisfied till they
outline to speak for itself. Thus, loaded their monumental
whether on the grand scale of a buildings with every possible
temple building like the ornamental addition. Here too
Parthenon or in a single human again the influence of material
figure like the Hermes of is apparent; concrete
Olympia, they were content demanded a disguise and
with beauty unadorned by coarse limestone did not permit
distracting ornament. The delicate purity of line and thus
perfection of Greek art lies in its called for extraneous ornament,
simplicity. so the Romans completed the
 The Greeks were artists by magnificence of their
nature, and Greek art was the monuments by a wealth of
outward expression of the decoration. The characteristic
national love of beauty. of Roman art lies in its
forcefulness. The Romans were
rulers by nature, and Roman art
was the outward expression of
the national love of power.

References
Old and sold antiques auction and marketplace. (1917). Greek architecture-comparative
analysis.
Retrieved from http://www.oldandsold.com/articles22/architecture-23.shtml
Old and sold antiques auction and marketplace. (1917). Roman architecture-comparative
analysis.
Retrieved from http://www.oldandsold.com/articles22/architecture-43.shtml

Topic 9. EARLY CHRISTIAN ARCHITECTURE
2. Appreciate the importance of studying Early Christian architecture.
3. Illustrate the characteristic features of Early Christian architecture
Watch: Early Christian Art History form Goodbye-Art Academy. Source:

https://youtu.be/Odtoyhc6tEM

a. Choose one (1) term/concept associated with Early Christian Architecture. Look for
Discussion
I. Facts about Early Christian Architecture

In the latter part of Roman history, Rome was divided into two parts, the Eastern and
the Western Empire.

II. Influences on Early
Christian Architecture
Christianity had its birth in
Judaea, an eastern province
of the Roman Empire, but
directly it became a living
organism it was naturally
carried by S. Peter, S. Paul,
and other missionaries to
Rome, as the center of the
World Empire. There at the
fountain-head of power and
influence, and despite
opposition and persecution,
the new religion took root
and grew, till it was strong
enough to become the
recognized universal
religion of the whole Roman
Empire. Early Christian
architecture in Rome was
influenced by and was the logical outcome of, existing Roman art, and it was modified
in other parts of the Empire according to the type already recognized as suitable for
the geographical situation of those countries, such as Syria, Asia Minor, North Africa,
and Egypt.
Geological influences may be said to have acted indirectly rather than directly on Early
Christian architecture, for the ruins of Roman buildings often provided the quarry
whence materials were obtained. This influenced the style, both as regards
construction and decoration; columns and other architectural features, as well as fine
sculptures and mosaics from older buildings, were worked into basilican churches of
the new faith.

The climate of Italy, the most important center of building activity in this epoch, has
been dealt with in the chapter on Roman architecture (p. 130). The climatic conditions
of such Roman provinces as Egypt, Syria and North Africa where Christianity was
established were more or less varied and naturally modified the style in those countries
where the fiercer sun and hotter climate necessitated small windows and other Eastern
features.
In all human history there is no record so striking as that of the rise of Christianity, and
no phenomenon so outstanding as the rapidity with which it was diffused throughout
the civilized world, and, not only in this period but also in all subsequent ages,
Christianity has inspired the building of some of the greatest architectural monuments.
The number of Christian communities established by the Apostle Paul in his missionary
journeys around the Eastern Mediterranean, in Syria, Africa, Greece, and Italy, might
lead us to expect many more ruins of Early Christian basilican churches throughout
these districts. In this connection, however, it must be remembered that the God
preached by S. Paul was " not like unto gold or silver or stone graven by art and device
of man," nor a God that dwelleth " in temples made with hands " like those of the old
Greeks and Romans which were built to shelter the statues of the gods. The purpose
of the Christian church was to shelter worshippers who met for prayer and praise to an
unseen Deity, and, during the unsettled conditions at the beginning of Christianity,
various places were adapted for this worship. Thus the building of pagan temples
ceased before any attempt was made to build Christian churches. In A.D. 313
Constantine issued his celebrated decree from Milan, giving Christianity equal rights
with other religions, and in A.D. 323 he professed Christianity, which became the official
religion of the Roman Empire, and the Christians then began to build churches of a
type suitable to their needs and ritual. Fortified by its official position and thus freed
from the need for unity within, which had been engendered by persecution from without,
doctrinal differences at once developed in the church, and the Council of Nicea (A.D.
325), called by Constantine, was the first of several such councils for the settlement of
disputes about heresies. The steady progress of Christianity was temporarily arrested
by a reaction (A.D. 360-363) under Julian the " Apostate," and then for several
generations religion suffered an eclipse as a power in European civilization, and the
whole continent was given over to war and anarchy. Pope Gregory the Great (A.D.
590-604) employed the Imperial Army of Constantinople to defend Rome against the

Lombards, and thus, by making common cause with the people, early laid the
foundations of the temporal power of the Papacy, which steadily increased, especially
under Popes Hadrian I and Leo II.
E. Social Influence
Constantine changed the capital of the Empire from Rome to Byzantium in A.D. 324,
when the old Roman political system came to an end, and this royal convert reigned
as an absolute monarch till his death in A.D. 337. Besides the troubles caused by Julian
the Apostate, Christianity suffered further disabilities during the unsettled conditions
consequent upon the division of the Roman Empire, which first took place in A.D. 365
when Valentinian became Emperor of the West and his brother Valens of the East.
Theodosius the Great (A.D. 379-395) reunited, for a time, the Eastern and Western
Empires, and in A.D. 438 Theodosius II published his legal code, an important work on
the constitutions of the emperors from the time of Constantine. The series of Emperors
in the West came to an end in A.D. 475, and the Eastern and Western Empires were
nominally reunited by Zeno, who reigned at Constantinople. Then again, the seat of
power was changed, and Theodoric the Goth reigned in Italy (A.D. 493–526) during a
period of peace and prosperity, and, in the wake of this change, Byzantine art
influenced Early Christian art by way of Ravenna, which rivaled Rome in importance
and was the capital of the Gothic Dynasty A.D. 493–552 except a short period when it
was subdued by Justinian (A.D. 537). Kings were now elected for the separate states
of Spain, Gaul, Northern Africa, and Italy, where King Odoacer recognized the
supremacy of the one Roman Emperor at Constantinople. The emancipation of
Western Europe from direct Imperial control resulted in the development of Romano-
Teutonic civilization, which facilitated the growth of new states and nationalities, gave
a fresh impulse to Christianity, and eventually strengthened the power of the Bishops
of Rome. The formation of these
new states resulted also in the growth and development of the Romance and Teutonic
languages, which, for general use, largely replaced Latin. These many social changes
and political disturbances could not fail to be reflected in the architecture of a period in
which great formative forces were at work
F. Historical Influence
The Early Christian period is generally taken as lasting from Constantine to the death
of Gregory the Great (A.D. 604), although in Rome and many Italian cities it continued
up to the tenth century. The incursions of the Huns into Germany about A.D. 376

eventually brought about invasions from the north into Italy, and in A.D. 410 Rome itself
was sacked by the Goths under Alaric. So many conflicting forces were at work in
Europe that the spread of the new religion was arrested during this period of change
and upheaval, till A.D. 451, when the defeat of Attila, King of the Huns, at the battle of
Chalons aided in the consolidation of Christianity in Europe. In A.D. 568 the Lombards
penetrated Italy and held the northern part for 200 years. Then in A.D. 800
Charlemagne was crowned by the Pope in Rome, and from this date, the Empire has
styled the Holy Roman Empire, a title retained till A.D. 1800. Under Pope Gregory the
Great (A.D. 590–604) Early Christian architecture, the latest phase of Roman art,
gradually fell into disuse, and for the next two centuries architectural development was
practically at a standstill in Europe; and though the influence of Byzantium asserted
itself, old Roman traditions were in abeyance till the time when Romanesque
architecture was gradually evolved.

1. The architectural character of
the basilican churches is
rendered impressive and
dignified by the long
perspective of columns.
2. The introduction of color with
the use of glass mosaic gave
richness and mystery to the
interior. They were used
purely for decoration
rather than as a
pictorial explanation
of the bible.
3. The architectural
character of Early
Christian Architecture
can be described as
a. Simple in design
b. Coarse in
execution

1. The Basilican church was
erected over the burial place
of the saint to whom the
church was dedicated. The
basilica is an ancient Roman
building type on which Early
Christian church
designs were based.
Parts of a Basilican Church:
1. Atrium
2. Narthex
3. Nave
4. Aisles
5. Cancelli/Chancel
6. Ambo/Pulpit
7. Transept
8. Bema
9. Altar
10. Baldachino
11. Apse
2. Ornamentation
1. Baptisteries - are separate buildings used
only for the sacrament of baptism during
Easter, Pentecost, and Epiphany.
a. The Baptistery of Constantine, Rome,
built by Sixtus III was among the oldest of
Italian Baptisteries.
b. The Baptistery, Nocera

c. Orthodox Baptistery, Ravenna, Italy
2. Tombs - Christian’s objection to cremation led

to the building of monumental tombs which were
an expression of the faith in immortality and a
memorial to the dead.
a. Tomb of Galla Placidia, Ravenna - its interior
was finished entirely of mosaic.
b. Santa Constanza, Rome was erected by
Constantine for his daughter Constantia.
c. Tomb of Theodoric, Ravenna
d. Catacombs are networks of
subterranean chambers and
galleries used for burial purposes
by peoples of the Mediterranean
world, especially the early
Christians. The word catacomb
was probably from the Latin ad
catacumbas, meaning “at the
hollows”

3. Basilican Churches
a. Old Basilican Church of St. Peter, Rome
b. The Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem was founded by Constantine over the
traditional birthplace of Christ.
c. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Jerusalem was built by Constantine over the
reputed tomb of Christ. It stands on a site that encompasses both Golgotha, or
Calvary, where Jesus was
crucified, and the tomb
(sepulcher) where He was
buried. It has been an
important pilgrimage
destination since the 4th
century, and it remains the
holiest Christian site in the
world.
d. St. Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna was built by Theodoric the Great.

e. St. Apollinaire Classe Ravenna was built by Emperor Justinian. It has been
described as the most impressive example of the Early Christian Basilica.
f. S. Maria Maggiore, Rome was built by Pope Sixtus III.
g. S. Stefano Rotondo, Rome is the largest circular church in existence with a
diameter of 64 m. It is the most ancient example of a central plan church in
Rome.
h. S. George, Salonica, Greece was a Christian church, later a mosque, and now
a Greek orthodox church.

i. S Giovanni Laterano, Rome is a double-aisled basilica but has lost its original
Early Christian character due to alterations. It is the oldest and ranks first among
the 4 major basilicas in Rome.
j. S. Paolo Fuori Le Mura, Rome was built over the grave of S. Paul and was the
largest basilica in Rome until St. Peter’s was completed in 1626. It was built over
the grave of martyr Et. Lawrence.
k. S. Agnese Fuori Le Mura, Rome was founded by Constantine over the grave of
S. Agnese
Synthesis Activity
1. Reflection Question: Give one (1) important contribution of Early Christian architecture to
the development of architecture as we know it today. Why do you say so?
References
Philippines. East Tennessee State University (2011, Apr. 08). Early Christian churches.
Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tveUPsEYSjE

Topic 10. BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE
2. Appreciate the importance of studying Byzantine architecture.
3. Illustrate the characteristic features of Byzantine architecture

Watch: Hagia Sophia, Istanbul. Source: https://youtu.be/XfpusWEd2jE

a. Choose one (1) term/concept associated with Byzantine Architecture. Look for the
Discussion
I. Facts about Byzantine Architecture
II. Influences on Byzantine Architecture

“Byzantium”, renamed Constantinople after its Imperial founder, and also called "New
Rome," was inaugurated as the capital of the Roman Empire in A.D. 330. Like Rome
in Italy, it stands on seven hills and is at the junction of the Bosphorus and the Sea of
Marmora, where Europe and Asia are only divided by a narrow strip of water. This gave
it a commanding and central position for the government of the expanding Roman
Empire. It was also at the intersection of two great highways of commerce, the water
highway between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, and the trade route between

Europe and Asia; thus,
it controlled the corn
trade from the northern
shores of the Euxine.
The large, natural
harbor of the Golden
Horn possesses
unusual advantages for
commerce; for it is four
miles in length,
unaffected by tides,
and of sufficient depth
to render its quays accessible to ships of deep draught. Byzantine art pervaded all parts
of the Eastern Roman Empire and was carried by traders to Greece, Russia, Asia
Minor, North Africa, and even farther west, where it is found in Venice, Ravenna, and
Perigueux, and it had considerable influence on the architecture of these districts.
Venice, especially in her situation, was a connecting link between the Byzantine and
Frankish Empires, and a depot for merchandise from both East and West.
Constantine possessed no good building stone, and local Materials such as clay for
bricks and rubble for concrete were employed. Other materials more monumental in
character had, therefore, to be imported: marble was brought from the quarries in the
islands and along the shores of the Eastern Mediterranean to Constantinople, which
was the chief marble-working center and supplied all parts of the Roman Empire.
Byzantine architecture was further considerably influenced by the multitude of
monolithic columns of such sizes as were obtainable from the different quarries. These
were even introduced into the underground cisterns for the water storage of this
Imperial city.
The Romans adapted their methods of building to the Eastern climate of their new
capital and to those conditions of life which had there already created traditional forms
in art: thus flat roofs for summer resorts are combined with oriental domes, and these,
with small windows often high up in otherwise unbroken walls, form the chief features
of the style, and sheltering arcades surrounded the open courts.

Constantine established
Christianity as the state
religion of the Roman
Empire (B.C. 323), and it
followed that the chief
buildings erected in
Byzantium, his new capital,
were
churches for the new
religion, and they naturally,
as time went on, came
under the influence of their
environment and so the
basilican Early Christian
type of church was merged
in the domical Byzantine
type which had originated
farther east. Disputes and
differences soon sprang up
in the Church and became
so rife that the Council of
Nicaea (A.D. 325) was only the first of a series called to suppress heresies. The political
division between East and West was followed by a division of Churches, due to the
"Filioque controversy" which arose in A.D. 589 and eventually culminated in the "Great
Schism" in A.D. 1014. The Western Church held that the Spirit proceeded from the
Father and Son, while the Eastern Church maintained that the Spirit proceeded from
the Father only. The Eastern and Western Churches had been further divided by the "
Iconoclastic movement," which resulted from the decree of the Eastern Emperor, Leo
III (A.D. 717-741), who, fearing that paganism would be fostered by the use of
sculpture, proscribed all representations of human or animal forms. Many Greek artists
thereupon left Constantinople for Italy, where, under Pope Gregory II, they could carry
on their art unmolested by Imperial decrees. This movement resulted in the admission
of painted figures in the decoration of Eastern churches, but all sculpted statues were
still excluded. These controversies and other differences in ritual have vitally affected
Byzantine church architecture up to the present day. Byzantine architecture, devoid of

statues, has always been and remains the official style of the Greek or Orthodox
Church of eastern Europe which has conserved unchanged its doctrines and ritual, and
therefore the architecture also became stereotyped in form through all periods, in sharp
contrast with the changes and additions which characterize the developments of
Mediaeval architecture to suit it to the varying requirements of church economy and
ritual in western Europe.
E. Social Influence
Constantine developed the policy initiated by Diocletian (A.D. 284-305) of providing
adequate civil government and military protection throughout the widespread Roman
Empire showed his statesmanship in his manner of dealing with this political problem,
just as he did in securing support for himself from the growing power of Christianity by
establishing it as the state religion. Diocletian's attempt, however, to solve the difficulty
of managing the Eastern Empire from the west of Italy by instituting three seats of
government, in addition to that of Rome, had proved ineffectual and open to abuse,
and therefore when Constantine in his turn was confronted with the same difficulty he
took the bold course of transplanting his capital from Rome to Byzantium (A.D. 324)
because he recognized the political value of its central position in the Empire. Thus the
seat of civil government, the military headquarters, and the Imperial court were all
established in an eastern city of which the population has always been described as
profligate, lazy, and vicious. Such a change of capital must have introduced Eastern
methods of life and corrupt conditions into the Roman social economy, and thus have
further contributed to the growth of luxury and vice which precipitated the fall of the
Roman Empire. Byzantium was an old Greek city, and so the new Imperial buildings
were executed by Greek craftsmen untrammeled by Roman traditions. Within the
fortifications of Constantine, the new city was laid out on Roman lines, so far as the
hills and site allowed. There was the central dividing street running through a
succession of six forums of which the original Augusteum was adjoined, not only by S.
Sophia, the greatest glory of early Christendom, but also by the Imperial palace, senate
house, and law courts. The Forum of Constantine, with his great porphyry column, was
the center of commercial life, while, in the Hippodrome hard by, the chariot races took
place which was the chief amusement of New Rome, as gladiatorial combat had been
of Old Rome. The Hippodrome held the same position in the social life of New Rome
as the Colosseum and thermae did in Old Rome, and was indeed used for all purposes
and on all occasions or crowning of emperors, burning of martyrs, execution of
criminals, and for triumphal processions and so was truly termed the axis of the

Byzantine world. The Romans paid the same attention to the water supply of their new
capital, for water was brought by aqueducts and stored in enormous underground
cisterns with roofs upheld by countless columns. As time went on and the population
increased the city of Constantine was extended, and the Great Wall with its famous
military gates and many towers was built by Theodosius II (A.D. 413) to set a circle of
land and water fortifications against the formidable attacks of Huns and Goths.
Constantine, the strong man, and despotic ruler were followed by emperors too weak
to assert their authority, and thus the Empire was divided in A.D. 365. After Theodosius,
the first Emperor to emerge into prominence was Justinian (A.D. 527-565), who
codified the Roman laws, was a great patron of architecture, and was responsible not
only for the rebuilding of S. Sophia but also for many other churches in the city and
Syria and Palestine. During the Macedonian dynasty (A.D. 867-1057) and the
Komnenian dynasty (A.D. 1057-1185), there was a remarkable outburst of building
activity. Despite its position as the bulwark of Christianity against Huns, Goths, and
Saracens, and in spite, too, of its commercial prosperity and industrial activity, the
Byzantine Empire was doomed to destruction. Decay from within facilitated defeat from
without, for during its later period society was a tangled skein of treachery, immorality,
and luxury, and the final crash came when the capital was captured by the Ottoman
Turks in A.D. 1453.
F. Historical Influence
Byzantium, said to have
been founded about B.C.
750, is known to have been a
Greek colony some three
hundred years later, and in
A.D. 324 became the capital
of the Roman Empire. On the
death of Emperor
Theodosius I (A.D. 395) the
Empire was finally divided,
and Byzantium continued to
be the capital of the Eastern Empire, and throughout the Middle Ages was the bulwark
of Christianity against the attacks of the Huns and Goths on the west, and of Saracens
on the east, Honorius (A.D. 395-423), the first Western Emperor of the newly divided
Empire, removed his residence from Rome to Ravenna on the east coast of Italy (A.D.

403), and consequently, there was great building activity in that city, which, from its
position, was peculiarly susceptible to Byzantine influence. A further impetus was given
to building when Ravenna became an archiepiscopal see in A.D. 438. During the reign
of Justinian (A.D. 527-565) Sicily and Italy were recovered to the Eastern Empire, and
this new connection promoted a revival of building in Italy; here again, Byzantine
influence came into play, and from A.D. 539 to 752 Ravenna was the seat of the Exarch
or representative of the Byzantine Emperors, and its buildings of this period became of
a still more pronounced Byzantine type. The history of the Byzantine Empire from the
fifth to the eleventh century is one of fluctuating and gradually declining fortunes. It first
lost its western provinces in the fifth century, some of which, including Italy and Sicily,
were regained in the sixth century under Justinian; while again in the following century
its strength was greatly reduced by conflict with the Persians, but yet once more in the
eighth century the Empire somewhat recovered itself, till in the ninth century it was
again strong enough to carry on fierce contests against the Saracens, who were long
kept at bay on the eastern side. In the eleventh century the decline was accelerated
because, besides enemies on the east and north, it was now attacked by Normans and
Venetians, till the " Latin occupation " of
Byzantium was accomplished in A.D. 1204
and lasted to A.D. 1261. The old Empire still
staggered on for another two hundred and
fifty years, but its vitality had been sapped by
internal dissensions and continuous warfare
against the Persians and Turks, and it was
finally captured by Ottoman Turks in A.D.
1453.

1. Simple
2. Richness
A. Typical Features

1. An important
characteristic of the
Byzantine style of
ornamentation is the
absence of sculptured
figures, while colored
pictures are generally
flat and stylized.
2. Byzantine churches are
distinguished by the
centralized type of plan, having a
dome over the nave.
3. The dome became the prevailing
motif of Byzantine architecture.
4. The east end of the church is cut
off from the nave by an iconostas
(screen of pictures).

5. Clay made into bricks and rubble for concrete were the building materials.
6. Flat roofs were combined with domes.
7. Small windows and arcades with open courts were chief features.
B. Types of Domes
1. Simple dome - dome and pendentive are parts of the same sphere. A pendentive
is a triangular curved overhanging surface to support a circular dome over a
square or polygonal compartment.
2. Compound dome - dome constructed separately from the pendentive.
3. Melon-shaped dome - with convolutions or ribs.
C. Ornaments
1. Mosaic from glass, tiles, and
marble. Tesserae is a piece of
material used in making a mosaic,
Ornament motif:
a. Fish (Ikhthus) - is mentioned
and given symbolic meaning
several times in the
Gospels. It is also a symbol for
Jesus.
b. Dove - a symbol of peace and
unity.
c. Peacock - an emblem of
immortality and resurrection.
d. Lamb (Good Shepherd) -
refers to Jesus’ role as a
sacrifice along for the sins of
man in Christian theology.
e. Grapevine - the idea of the
vital union of the believers with
Christ and among each other
is symbolized by the vine and its branches.
f. Endless Knot - the emblem of eternity.
g. The Chi Rho - is formed by superimposing the first two letters of the word
“Christ” in Greek, chi=ch, and rho=r. It invokes the crucifixion of Jesus as well
as symbolizing his status as the Christ.

h. Symbolic group of saints.
2. Columns and capitals were the classic capitals
3. No human figures in Byzantine decoration
4. Decorative features: scrolls,
circles, and other geometric
forms or by depicting leaves
and flowers.
5. Carvings of the capitals:
deeply incised lines and drilled
holes – strong black and white
effect.
6. The dome is a structural
feature
1. Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey, “Holy Wisdom” is a former Orthodox patriarchal
basilica, later a mosque and now a museum.
2. Monastery Church at Hosios Loukas, Phobia, Greece. The facing was executed using
the cloisonne technique in which the stones are framed all around with a brick.
3. Church of St. Mary, Istanbul
4. Granacia Church, Serbia
5. The Church of the Holy Apostles is the oldest in Athens.
6. St. Mark, Venice is popular for the
representation of the incidents
from the old and new testaments.
Both the exterior and interior of
St. Mark’s are lavishly decorated
with elaborate mosaic, much of it
in shimmering gold.
7. S. Sophia, Novgorod has steep
bulbous domes to throw off snow.
8. S. Sophia, Kiev has 13 domes
and has mosaic interior
decorations.
9. S. Basil, Moscow is a Russian Orthodox cathedral built by Ivan IV in 1555. It is the
most recognizable symbol of Russia. The architect was Postnik Yakovlev. The

building’s design, shaped as a flame of a bonfire rising into the sky, has no analogues
in Russian architecture. It has 9 unique onion domes, each with 9 individual chapels.
Each dome is different and painted in the most brilliant of its design. Legend has it that
on completion of the church, the Tsar ordered the architect, Postnik Yakovlev, to be
blinded to prevent him from ever cheating anything to rival its beauty again
Synthesis Activity
1. Reflection Question: Give one (1) important contribution of Byzantine architecture to the
References
Philippines.
History Channel Documentary (2016, Jun. 28). Engineering and empire the Byzantines.
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEXSD-M6JvI

Topic 11. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS: EARLY CHRISTIAN AND BYZANTINE
ARCHITECTURE: A SUPPLEMENT
1. Learn the similarities and differences between the Architecture of the Early Christians and
Byzantines
styles.
Discussion
Description Greek Roman
1. Plan  The Early Christians followed the  The domical method of

basilican model for their new construction governs the plan of
churches and may also have Byzantine churches, which are
used old Roman halls, baths, all distinguished by a central
dwelling-houses, and even space, covered with a dome on
pagan temples as places of pendentives.
worship.  Short arms on each side form a
 The campanile or bell tower Greek cross, and the filling in of
dates from this period, and that the angles brings the plan nearly
of S. Giorgio in Velabro, Rome, to a square. Opposite the
one of the earliest, is a prototype entrance was the apse for the
of Mediaeval towers. altar in the sanctuary, which was
 An isolated circular baptistery screened off by the characteristic
was generally attached to the "Iconostasis" with its three doors,
chief basilican church or and there were also lateral ritual
cathedral of a city. chapels. The narthex formed an
entrance vestibule and was
frequently crowned with domes.
 The essential difference in plan
between a Byzantine and an
Early Christian church may be
summed up as follows:
a. No bell towers.
b. The Byzantine church gives
a vertical impression
because of the grouping of
subsidiary domes around a
central dome, for the eye is
gradually drawn upwards
towards the central
culminating dome.

c. The Early Christian church
gives a horizontal
impression because of the
vista of columns,
entablatures, and simple
timber roof, the eye is led
along these horizontal lines
to the apsidal sanctuary
which is the important
feature.
2. Walls  These were still constructed  The walls were usually
according to Roman methods of constructed of brick and
using rubble or concrete, faced internally encrusted with rich
with plaster, brick, or stone. colored marbles and shining
 Mosaic decoration was added glass mosaics, which swept from
internally, and sometimes also wall to arch and arch to vault
externally on west facades; almost to the exclusion of
though little regard was paid to mouldings and sculptured
external architectural effect. ornament. In this lavish
application of color to a flat
surface, all the oriental love of
magnificence found full
expression.
 Externally the walls were
comparatively plain and
depended largely for effect on
the brilliant oriental sunshine
which clothed them with a
garment of glowing color. The
facades were often thrown into
prominence by alternate layers
or bands of brick and stone,
reminiscent of the strata of a
quarry. This simple device
further accentuated the
connection of the building with
the ground in which it had its
foundations.
3. Openings  Arcades, doors, and windows  Arcades of semicircular arches

were either spanned by a on monolithic columns with
semicircular arch which, in nave convex capitals were largely
arcades, often rested directly on employed in churches,
the capitals without any especially to support the
entablatures, or were spanned galleries.
by a lintel, as in the doorway of  Doors are usually spanned by
the Tomb of Theodoric, semi-circular arches, but flat,
Ravenna. The marble doors at segmental, and horse-shoe
Cividale show the ornate arches were also used.
character sometimes attempted.  Windows similarly spanned, are
 Window openings, filled in with small and grouped, while
pierced slabs of marble or sometimes they are arranged in

alabaster, were small; those of tiers within the semicircular arch
the nave were in the walls above beneath the dome. The
the aisle roofs. encircling ring of windows at the
 This system was developed base of the dome or in the "drum"
in the wonderful clear-stories upon which the dome was raised
of Gothic architecture was often the chief source of
light in the church.
 The problem in the East was to
exclude rather than admit light,
and windows were therefore
small, to make the interior restful
and cool, in welcome contrast to
the external glare of the Eastern
sun, and consequently, large
unbroken wall spaces were
available for brilliant mosaic
pictures.
 Windows were also occasionally
formed of a thin frame, 3 ins.
thick, of translucent marble, filled
in with glass and creamy,
golden-hued alabaster which the
brilliant sunshine wrought
into color like stained glass. The
Gothic architects of Northern
Europe, where large windows
were necessary owing to the
dullness of the climate, adopted
a translucent scheme of
decoration using painted glass
pictures in the large traceried
windows instead of sheathing
their walls with mosaics.
4. Roofs  Timber roofs covered the central  The method of roofing was by
nave, and only simple forms of domes of brick, stone, or
construction, such as king and concrete, often with no further
queen post trusses, were covering. In S. Sophia the vaults
employed. It is believed that the are covered with sheets of lead,
decoration of the visible a quarter of an inch thick,
framework was of a later date, as fastened to timber laths resting
at S. Miniato, Florence. The on the vaults.
narrower side aisles were  Hollow earthenware jars were
occasionally vaulted and the sometimes used to reduce the
apse was usually domed and thrust on the supporting walls, as
lined with beautiful glass at S. Vitale, Ravenna. The
mosaics, which formed a fitting Byzantines practiced the system
background to the sanctuary. of placing the dome over a
square or octagon using
pendentives, which had only
been employed tentatively by the
Romans, as in the Minerva
Medica, Rome.

 Domes are of three types:
a. Simple,
b. Compound,
c. melon
shaped.
 In the simple type of dome,
pendentives and domes were
part of the same sphere. A good
idea of this type is obtained by
halving an orange, cutting off
four slices, each at right angles
to the last, to represent the four
arches, and then scooping out
the interior; the portion above the
crown of these semicircles is the
dome and the intervening
triangles are the pendentives.
Such a form of dome is,
however, rare, and perhaps the
only example in Europe is that
over the Tomb of Galla Placidia.
The compound type of dome
gives greater height and was of
two varieties, in the first of which
the dome ceased to be part of
the same sphere as the
pendentives, but rose
independently above them, and
in the second the dome was
raised on a high drum pierced
with windows. The melon-
shaped type of dome consists of
convolutions, as in S. Theodore
and SS. Sergius and Bacchus
avoided the necessity for
pendentives.
5. Columns  These differ both in design and  Columns were used
size, as they were often taken constructively, but were always
from earlier Roman buildings, subordinate features and
which had either fallen into ruin generally introduced to support
or been purposely destroyed. It galleries, as massive piers and
was natural that early Christian walls supported the
builders should use materials superstructure. In the first
and ornament of the pagan instance, columns were taken
Romans, and, as these belonged from ancient buildings, but these
to the better period of Roman art, were not so numerous in the
a grand effect was obtained East as in the neighborhood of
through the details of the design Rome, and therefore the supply
were not necessarily was sooner exhausted. This
homogeneous. Middleton states provided an opportunity for
that all the fine marble columns, designing monolithic shafts. For
whether Doric, Ionic or capitals, the Roman Ionic and

Corinthian, in the churches of Corinthian and Composite types
Rome were taken from ancient were sometimes used, but from
Roman buildings, except those these were derived a new
in S. Paolo Fuori le Mura. The cubiform type with convex sides,
carved capitals are governed by suited to carry a rising arch,
Roman pagan precedent and which took the place of the
sometimes by Byzantine, and in horizontal entablature, and this
both the acanthus leaf forms an resulted in the gradual disuse of
important part. the Roman "Orders" of
architecture. Over each type was
frequently placed a deep abacus
or "dosseret-block," which was
probably the survival of the then
obsolete Classic entablature and
also performed the function of
enlarging the surface of the
capital to support the voussoirs
of the arch. These capitals were
carved with incised foliage of
sharp outline with drilled eyes
between the leaves, all
contained within the general
outline of the capital. An effective
type is a bird-and-basket capital
from S. Sophia, Constantinople
6. Mouldings  These are coarse variations of  Mouldings were little used

old Roman types, and the because the marble and mosaic
carving, though rich in general wall linings ran continuously over
effect, is crude; for the technique the surface of walls and arches.
of the craftsman had gradually  Internally, decorative panels
declined, and was at a low ebb of marble and mosaic were
during this period. sometimes framed in billet
 Enrichments were incised on mouldings, probably derived
mouldings in low relief, and the from the Classic dentil course,
acanthus ornament, and flat splayed mouldings, with
incised ornament, were also
used.
 Externally the simple treatment
of walls in flat expanses of
brickwork, with occasional stone
banded courses, did not leave
the same scope for mouldings as
in other styles. Flat stone
bandings flush with the wall
surface were used instead of
string courses and cornices.
7. Ornament  The introduction of color gave  The scheme of ornamentation
richness and glimmering mystery was elaborate in the extreme, for
to interiors. The mosaics which internal walls were lined with
lined the domed apses generally costly marbles with veining

represented Christ surrounded carefully arranged to form
by apostles and saints with all patterns, while vaults and upper
those symbolic emblems which walls were sheathed with glass
now entered largely into mosaic pictures of symbolic
decoration. The " arch of figures, groups of saints, the
triumph," separating the nave peacock as the emblem of
from the bema, was ornamented immortal life, the endless knot as
with appropriate subjects; long the emblem of eternity, and the
friezes of figures line the wall sacred monogram of Christ-all
above nave arcades and the wall forming a striking contrast to the
spaces between the clear less permanent painted frescoes
story windows often had mosaics of Romanesque churches.
illustrating Christian history or  Byzantine pavements of many-
doctrine. colored marbles and mosaics
 The figures are treated in strong were carried out in a great
colors on a gold background in a variety of patterns, such as "opus
bold and simple design, and an sectile" and "opus
earnest and solemn expression, Alexandrinum," and thus the
fitting well the position they general color scheme was
occupy, characterize the groups. carried throughout the church
The method of execution is over the floor, walls, arches, and
coarse and bold, and no attempt vaults. Mosaic in small cubes
was made at the neatness of was used broadly as a complete
joint or regularity of bedding of lining to brick structures, and
the mosaic cubes. The colored mouldings were replaced by
pavements were largely formed decorative bands in the mosaic.
of slices from old Roman One surface melts into another
porphyry or marble columns, as the mosaics creep from the
worked into designs by wall, arch, and pendentive to the
connecting bands of geometrical dome, while one universal
inlay on a field of white marble, golden background gives unity of
and they greatly added to the effect to the whole surface.
general decorative effect. The  Greek rather than Roman
glass mosaics used for the High technique was followed in the
Altar, ambones, screens, Easter carving, on account of the Greek
candlesticks, and episcopal origin of Byzantine craftsmen. A
chairs; as in the fittings of the special character of the carving
Church of S. Clemente, Rome, was due to the use of the drill
were of a finer and more delicate instead of the chisel. The
description. Fonts, as from the acanthus leaf, deeply
Venice Museum, and well- channeled and of V-shaped
heads, as that from the Cloisters section, was adopted from the
of S. Giovanni in Laterano, Greek variety, but became more
Rome, were subjects upon which conventional in treatment with
much skillful carving was acute-pointed leaves drilled with
expended. The sculptured deep holes at the springings.
sarcophagi of the Early The great characteristic of
Christians belonging to the great Byzantine ornament as
families of Rome thought of compared with Classical is that
small artistic merit, have the pattern is incised instead of
carved bas-reliefs in the raised and was cut into the
quaint and crude craftsmanship surface without breaking the

of the period, and it is not general outline. The bridal
unusual to find, crowded casket of Projecta, the marble
together on the same sarcophagus, the well-head from
sarcophagus, such various Venice, and the parapet panel
incidents as Adam and Eve in are all typical examples of
the Garden, Moses striking the Byzantine art and show the close
rock, Daniel in the lions' den, the alliance between architecture
Virgin and Child worshipped and subsidiary arts. The screen
by the Magi, and the denial of to the bema of S. Luke of Stiris,
Peter. Sometimes, as in S. with its cubiform capitals and
Apollinare in Classe, Ravenna, unending knot ornamentation is
the Cross, the symbol of an example of church fittings.
Christianity, is accompanied by  Figure sculpture was not allowed
other Christian symbols such as by the Greek Church, as it was
the emblems of evangelists and held to savor idolatry, and so this
saints, which now replaced the was an additional reason for the
attributes of heathen deities, and Byzantine type of decoration
became usual features in the which expressed itself in flat
decorative scheme. The Angel of colored pictures and not in raised
S. Matthew, the Lion of S. Mark, sculptured figures. In their
the Ox of S. Luke, and the Eagle special way these Byzantine
of S. John, as well as the dove, artists, with their miracles of
peacock, anchor, olive branch, color effects, rivaled even the
and monogram of Christ (the Chi artists of Old Greece, whose
rho), are woven into the scheme sculpture stands unchallenged
of things. through all ages. It was as well
for the fame of Byzantine art that
it had no chance of entering into
rivalry with the art of Greece. It
was compelled to seek another
form of expression, and this
necessity gave rise to the
wonderful mosaic pictures which
clothe Byzantine churches in the
glowing beauty of surface
decoration.
References:
Old and sold antiques auction and marketplace. (1917). Early Christian architecture-
comparative
analysis. Retrieved from http://www.oldandsold.com/articles22/architecture-47.shtml

Old and sold antiques auction and marketplace. (1917). Byzantine architecture-comparative
analysis. Retrieved from http://www.oldandsold.com/articles22/architecture-51.shtm

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ARHIST11 HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE 1

Table of Contents ....................................................................................................................... ii

Introduction ................................................................................................................................ iii

Assignment Schedule ................................................................................................................. ii

Course Content .......................................................................................................................... 1

Topic 1. INTRODUCTION TO ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY .............................................. 1

Topic 2. INTRODUCTION TO PREHISTORIC ARCHITECTURE ....................................... 8

Topic 3. WEST ASIATIC ARCHITECTURE/ARCHITECTURE OF THE ANCIENT NEAR

Topic 4. EGYPTIAN ARCHITECTURE ............................................................................. 23

Topic 5. A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF ANCIENT NEAR EAST AND EGYPTIAN

Topic 6. AEGEAN AND GREEK ARCHITECTURE ........................................................... 47

Topic 7. TUSCAN AND ROMAN ARCHITECTURE .......................................................... 67

Topic 8. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS: GREECE AND ROMAN ARCHITECTURE: A

Topic 9. EARLY CHRISTIAN ARCHITECTURE................................................................ 93

Topic 10. BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE ......................................................................... 102

Topic 11. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS: EARLY CHRISTIAN AND BYZANTINE

Reading Materials ...................................................................................................................... 1

A Self-regulated Learning Module ii

A Self-regulated Learning Module iii

Introduction to the Architectural History 1 week

VI. The Course Module Organization

A Self-regulated Learning Module iv

A Self-regulated Learning Module v

II. The Grading rubrics for all activities will be as follows:

a. Creative Output (e.g., posters, graphic organizers)

A Self-regulated Learning Module vi

III. Course Activities and Output Requirements

Level of effort you placed in this module.

A Self-regulated Learning Module vii

A Self-regulated Learning Module viii

Topic Time Frame

Topic 1. Introduction to Architectural History Week 1

A Self-regulated Learning Module ii

a. Choose one (1) term/concept associated with Prehistoric

1. Reflection Question: Give one piece of evidence of the influence

Topic 3. West Asiatic Architecture: Mesopotamian Architecture Week 4 – 5

A Self-regulated Learning Module iii

a. Choose one (1) term/concept associated with West Asiatic

1. Reflection Question: Give one piece of evidence of the influence

First Grading Exam

Topic 4. Egyptian Architecture Week 6 – 7

Why Did The Egyptians Stop Building Pyramids? | Immortal Egypt |

2. Student Activity: Infographic Poster

A Self-regulated Learning Module iv

Topic 5. Aegean and Greek Architecture Week 8 - 10

a. Choose one (1) term/concept associated with West Asiatic

A Self-regulated Learning Module v

1. Reflection Question: Give one piece of evidence of the influence of

Topic 6. Etruscan and Roman Architecture Week 11 – 13

A Self-regulated Learning Module vi

Topic 7. Early Christian Architecture Week 14

a. Choose one (1) term/concept associated with West Asiatic

1. Reflection Question: Give one piece of evidence of the influence

Topic 8. Byzantine Architecture Week 15

Watch: Hagia Sophia, Istanbul. Source:

2. Student Activity: Infographic Poster

A Self-regulated Learning Module vii

1. Reflection Question: Give one piece of evidence of the influence

A Self-regulated Learning Module viii

Topic 1. INTRODUCTION TO ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY

Objective: At the end of the lesson, you should:

2. Student Activity: Infographic Poster

A Self-regulated Learning Module 1

A Self-regulated Learning Module 2