CLASSICAL

GREEK
ARCHITECTURE

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 AEGEAN or MINOANS & MYCENEAN
ARCHITECTURE
The Minoans
= lived in CRETE, an island in the Aegean Sea.
= named after a legendary king, MINOS.
= as early as 2,600 B.C., people on Crete are working with bronze and
gold.

The Myceneans
= Indo-European invaders of Crete named after the palace at Mycenae
around 1900 B.C.
= Mycenae was the homeland of Agamemnon, a king in Greek
mythology.
= Culture was based around citadels on the mainland of Greece.
ANCIENT GREECE MAP
Kings lived in large, elegant palaces; the most famous of which is
the Palace of King Minos at Knossos. It was like a small city
with more than 800 rooms.
 Palace of King Minos @ Knossos has
rooms groups around a central
courtyard that are surrounded by
cypress wood columns that tapered
downward.

Porch example of a fresco

PLAN OF KING MINOS PALACE
 MEGARONS = domestic houses
 TYPES OF WALL CONSTRUCTION
Cyclopean = huge stone blocks
Polygonal = polygonal stones
Rectangular = cut stones w/ dowels
 TREASURY of ATREUS
(Tomb of Agamemnon)

Dromos = long passage

An underground
tomb
Tholos = beehive shaped
long chamber
The Lion Gate @ Mycenae
HELLENISTIC & HELLENIC GREEK ARCHITECTURE
800 B.C. = Great Age of Greek Civilization
Hellas = Greek’s name for their country
3 MAIN GREEK ORDERS
 Doric order is the widely used order during the
Greek period.
 Greek columns appear to be straight but are subtly
tapered (“entasis”)
 Ionic order – peak of Classical Greek Architecture
 Corinthian – decline
 The moulding that is often found in the Doric order
is the Bird’s Beak.
 TYPES OF GREEK MOULDINGS

 CYMA REVERSA – water and leaf

 CYMA RECTA – anthemion
 OVOLO – egg and dart
 ASTRAGAL – bead and reel
 TORUS – guilloche
 CORONA – key pattern
 “ Beauty of style … and grace and good rhythm
depend on simplicity.”
-PLATO
 “ We are lovers of the beautiful, yet simple in
tastes”
-PERICLES
CHARACTERISTICS OF CLASSICAL
GREEK ARCHITECTURE

Simplicity and Beauty

Purity of Lines
Perfection of Perspective
Marble = common construction material.
Columnar & Trabeated
 ACROPOLIS
- also called “temenos”, means the highest city.
Athenian statesman Pericles supervises construction on the
Acropolis.
 MAJOR STRUCTURES OF THE ACROPOLIS
Part of the great rebuilding program that Pericles began about 460 B.C.

 PROPYLAEA
 PARTHENON
 ERECTHEUM
 TEMPLE OF ATHENA
NIKE
THE PROPYLAEA
ARCHITECT : MNESICLES

Built about 437-432 B.C.

Inner and outer collonades are

Doric.

Inside are slender Ionic

columns.

Two Central Gate Hall

Chambers :
1. Pinokotheke-painting
gallery
2. Glypthotheke-sculpture
gallery
THE
PARTHENON
The Largest Building @ the
Acropolis

ARCHITECTS : ICTINUS
CALLICRATES
SCULPTORS : SCOPAS
PHEIDIAS
A temple dedicated to Athena
Parthenos (Athena the Warrior Maiden)
THE
ERECTHEUM
The most complex & richly-embellished
ARCHITECT : MNESICLES
Best known for its caryatid porch on the
South side facing the Parthenon.

Dedicated to Athena Polias

(Athena Protectress of the City)
& Poseidon (God of the Sea).
CARYATID= female statue
ATLANTES/TELAMONES = male counterpart of female
caryatid
CANEPHORAE = holding a basket on head
THE TEMPLE OF ATHENA NIKE
ARCHITECT : CALLICRATES

Athena = goddess of wisdom

Athena Nike = Athena of Victory

Measures only at 5.64m x 8.34m

THE ACROPOLIS TODAY
(AFTER 2400 YEARS)
TEMPLE OF ZEUS
Olympia
ARCHITECT : LIBON OF ELIS

2ND Largest Temple

ZEUS – Most important Greek

god. Her wife is Hera, the
goddess of marriage.
THEATRE OF EPIDAUROS
ARCHITECT : POLYCLEITOS
 PARTS OF THE
GREEK THEATRE
ORCHESTRA = elevated platform
or stage
CAVEA = auditorium
SKENE = scene building
PARADOS = passage leading to the
skene.

DEVELOPMENT OF GREEK
THEATRE :
PARACENIA = projecting wall
PROCENIUM = speakers’ platform
EPISCENIUM = raised background
 AGORA
market place or town square
 STOA
colonnade used as a shelter

e.g. STOA OF ATTALUS

 BOULEUTERION
Council House

e.g. Council Hall of Miletus

 MAUSOLEUM
Greek Tombs

The most famous of all tombs and one of the Seven Wonders of the World
Erected for King Mausolos is the Mausoleum, Halicarnassos.