Ancient Greek architecture had a huge impact on the architecture of subsequent eras. Its main concepts and philosophy have long been entrenched in the traditions of Europe. What is interesting in ancient Greek architecture? The order system, the principles of city planning and the creation of theaters are described further in the article.
Development periods
Ancient Greece - ancient civilization, which consisted of many disparate city-states. It covered the western coast of Asia Minor, the south of the Balkan Peninsula, the islands of the Aegean Sea, as well as southern Italy, the Black Sea region and Sicily.
Ancient Greek architecture gave rise to many styles and became the basis in the architecture of the Renaissance. In the history of its development, several stages are usually distinguished.
- Homer period (mid-XII - mid-VIII century BC) - new forms and features based on previous Mycenaean traditions. The main buildings were residential buildings and the first temples made of clay, unbaked brick and wood. The first ceramic details appeared in the decor.
- Archaic (VIII - beginning of the V century., 480-ies. BC. E.). With the formation of policies, new public buildings appear. The temple and the square in front of it become the center of city life. In construction, stone is often used: limestone and marble, terracotta lining. Various types of temples appear. Doric warrant prevails.
- Classics (480 - 330 BC) - the heyday. All types of orders in ancient Greek architecture are actively developing and even compositionally connected with each other. The first theaters and music halls (odeyons), residential houses with porticoes, appear. The theory of street and block planning is being formed.
- Hellenism (330 - 180 BC) Theaters and public buildings are being built. The ancient Greek style in architecture is complemented by oriental elements. Dominated by decorativeness, luxury and splendor. More commonly used Corinthian warrant.
In 180, Greece was influenced by Rome. The Empire lured the best scientists and masters of art into its capital, borrowing from the Greeks some cultural traditions. Therefore, ancient Greek and Roman architecture have many similarities, for example, in the construction of theaters or in the warrant system.
Philosophy of Architecture
In any aspect of life, the ancient Greeks strove to achieve harmony. The ideas about her were not blurry and purely theoretical. In ancient Greece, harmony was defined as a combination of calibrated proportions.
They were used for the human body. Beauty was measured not only "by eye", but also by specific numbers. Thus, the sculptor Poliklet in the treatise "Canon" presented the clear parameters of the ideal man and woman. Beauty was directly related to the physical and even spiritual health and integrity of the individual.
The human body was considered as a construction, the details of which are perfectly fitted to each other. Ancient Greek architecture and sculpture, in turn, sought as much as possible to correspond to the concept of harmony.
The sizes and shapes of the statues corresponded to the idea of the “right” body and its parameters. The type of sculptures usually promoted the ideal person: spiritualized, healthy and athletic. In architecture, anthropomorphism manifested itself in the names of measures (elbow, palm) and in the proportions that were derived from the proportions of the figure.
The image of man was the columns. Their foundation or base was identified with the feet, the trunk with the body, the capital with the head. The vertical grooves or flutes on the column barrel were represented by folds of clothing.
The main orders of ancient Greek architecture
One cannot speak of the great achievements of engineering in ancient Greece. Complex structures and solutions were not used then. The temple of that time can be compared with a megalith, where a stone beam rests on a stone support. The greatness and features of ancient Greek architecture are, first of all, in its aesthetics and decorativeness.
The artistry and philosophy of the building were helped by embodying his warrant or post-beam composition of elements in a certain style and order. There were three main types of warrants in ancient Greek architecture:
All of them had a common set of elements, but differed in their location, shape and ornament. So, the Greek warrant included a stereo beat, a stylobate, an entablature and a cornice. The stereobat was a stepped base above the foundation. This was followed by stylobate or columns.
The entablature was a carrying part located on columns. The lower beam, on which the entire entablature relied, is called architrave. It housed a frieze - the middle decorative part. The upper part of the entablature is a cornice, it hung over the rest of the parts.
At first, elements of ancient Greek architecture were not mixed. The Ionian entablature lay only on the Ionic column, Corinthian - on the Corinthian. One style per building. After the construction of Iktinus and Kallikratom of the Parthenon in the V century BC. e. orders began to combine and put on each other. This was done in a certain order: first Doric, then Ionic, then Corinthian.
Doric order
Doric and Ionic ancient Greek warrants in architecture were the main ones. The Doric system was distributed mainly on the mainland and inherited Mycenaean culture. It is characterized by monumentality and somewhat heaviness. The appearance of the order expresses calm greatness and conciseness.
Doric columns are low. They have no base, and the trunk is powerful and tapers up. The abacus, the upper part of the capital, has a square shape and lies on a rounded backwater (echine). The flute, as a rule, was twenty. The architect Vitruvius compared the columns of this order with a man - strong and restrained.
The entablature of the warrant was always attended by the architrave, frieze and cornice. The frieze was separated from the architrave by a shelf and consisted of triglyphs - rectangles elongated upwards with flutes, which alternated with metopes - slightly recessed square plates with or without sculptural images. Friezes of other orders did not have triglyphs with metopes.
The triglyph was assigned primarily practical functions. Researchers suggest that he represented the ends of the beams that lay on the walls of the sanctuary. It had strictly calculated parameters and served as a support for the eaves and rafters. In some of the oldest buildings, the space between the ends of the triglyph was not filled with metopes, but remained empty.
Ionian order
The Ionian order system was distributed on the coast of Asia Minor, in Attica and on the islands. The influence on it was provided by Phenicia and Persia Achaemeda. A striking example of this style was the temple of Artemis at Ephesus and the temple of Hera in Samosay.
Jonica was associated with the image of a woman. The order was characterized by decorativeness, lightness and sophistication. Its main feature was the capital, decorated in the form of volutes - symmetrically arranged curls. Abacus and echin were decorated with carvings.
The Ionian column is thinner and slimmer than the Doric. Its base rested on a square slab and was decorated with convex and concave elements with ornamental cuts. Sometimes the base was located on a drum decorated with a sculptural composition. In ionics, the distance between the columns is greater, which increases the airiness and sophistication of the building.
The entablature could consist of an architrave and a cornice (Asia Minor style) or of three parts, as in Doric (Attic style). The architrave was divided into fascia - horizontal ledges. Between him and the cornice were small cloves. The gutter on the ledge was richly decorated with ornaments.
Corinthian order
The Corinthian order is rarely considered independent, it is often defined as a variation of the ionic. There are two versions reporting the origins of this order. The more mundane speaks of borrowing style from Egyptian columns, which were decorated with lotus leaves. According to another theory, the order was created by a sculptor from Corinth. He was inspired by the basket he saw, in which there were acanthus leaves.
It differs from the ionic one mainly in the height and decor of the capital, which is decorated with stylized acanthus leaves. Two rows of fashioned leaves frame the top of the column in a circle. The sides of the abacus are concave and decorated with large and small spiral curls.
The Corinthian order is saturated with decor more than other ancient Greek orders in architecture. Of all three styles, he was considered the most luxurious, elegant and rich. His tenderness and sophistication was associated with the image of a young girl, and the leaves of the acanthus resembled curls. Due to this, the order is often called the "girl".
Antique temples
The temple was the main and most important building of ancient Greece. His form was simple, the prototype for her was residential rectangular houses. The architecture of the ancient Greek temple was gradually complicated and supplemented with new elements until it acquired a round shape. These styles are usually distinguished:
- distill;
- prostyle;
- amphiprostyl;
- peripter;
- dipter;
- pseudo dipter;
- tolos.
The temple in ancient Greece had no windows. Outside it was surrounded by columns, which housed a gable roof and beams. Inside was a sanctuary with a statue of a deity to whom the temple was dedicated.
Some buildings could accommodate a small dressing room - pronaos. In the back of large temples was another room. It kept the donations of the inhabitants, the sacred inventory and the city treasury.
The first type of temple - distill - consisted of a sanctuary, a front loggia, which was surrounded by walls or antes. The loggia housed two columns. With the increasing complexity of styles, the number of columns increased. There are four of them in the simple style, and four in the amphiprostyle on the back and front facade.
In the periphery temples they surround the building from all sides. If the columns are lined around the perimeter in two rows, then this is a dipter style. The last style, tholos, also assumed an environment of columns, but the perimeter had a cylindrical shape. In the times of the Roman Empire, tholos evolved into the type of construction of the rotunda.
Policy device
Ancient Greek policies were built mainly off the coast. They developed as trade democracies. In the social and political life of the cities, all their full residents participated. This leads to the fact that ancient Greek architecture is developing not only in the direction of religious buildings, but also in terms of public buildings.
The upper part of the city was an acropolis. As a rule, he was on a hill and was well fortified to restrain the enemy during a surprise attack. Within its borders were the temples of the gods, who patronized the city.
The center of the Lower City was the agora - an open market square where trade was held, important social and political issues were resolved. It housed schools, the Council of Elders building, the basilica, a building for feasts and meetings, as well as temples. Statues were sometimes placed around the perimeter of the agora.
From the very beginning, ancient Greek architecture assumed that the buildings inside the policies are placed freely. Their location depended on the local topography. In the 5th century BC, Hippodamus brought about a real revolution in city planning. He proposed a clear mesh street structure that divides neighborhoods into rectangles or squares.
All buildings and objects, including agora, are located inside the quarter cells, without breaking out of the general rhythm. Such a layout made it easy to complete new sections of the policy, without violating integrity and harmony. According to the design of Hippodamus, Miletus, Cnidus, Assos, etc. were built. But Athens, for example, remained in the old "chaotic" form.
Living spaces
Houses in ancient Greece differed depending on the era, as well as the wealth of the owners. There are several main types of houses:
- megaron;
- apsidal;
- pastoral;
- peristile.
One of the earliest types of housing is the megaron. His plan became the prototype for the first temples of the Homeric era. The house had a rectangular shape, in the front part of which there was an open room with a portico. The passage was surrounded by two columns and protruding walls. Inside there was only one room with a center in the middle and a hole in the roof for smoke to escape.
An apsidal house was also built in the early period. It was a rectangle with a rounded end part, which was called an apse. Later, pastoral and peristyle types of buildings appeared. The external walls were blank, and the layout of the buildings was closed.
The pasta was a passage in the inner part of the courtyard. From above it was covered and supported by wooden supports. In the 4th century BC, peristyle became popular. It retains its previous layout, but the pastoral passage is replaced by covered columns around the perimeter of the courtyard.
From the side of the street there were only smooth walls of houses. Inside was a courtyard around which all the premises of the house were located. There were usually no windows; the courtyard was the light source. If there were any windows, they were located on the second floor. The decoration of the interiors was mostly simple, excesses began to appear only in the Hellenistic era.
The house was clearly divided into the female (gyneckey) and male (andron) half. The male part received guests and had a meal. To get to the female half was possible only through her. From the side of the gyneckey was the entrance to the garden. The wealthy also housed a kitchen, a bathhouse and a bakery. The second floor was usually rented out.
Ancient Greek Theater Architecture
The theater in ancient Greece combined not only an entertaining aspect, but also a religious one. Its origin is associated with the cult of Dionysus. The first theatrical productions were arranged for the veneration of this deity. The architecture of the ancient Greek theater reminded of the religious origin of the performances at least by the presence of the altar, which was in the orchestra.
Festivals, games and plays took place on the stage. In the IV century BC, they ceased to be relevant to religion. The distribution of roles and control of the productions was done by the archon. The main roles were played by a maximum of three people, women played by men. The drama was performed in the form of a contest, where poets took turns presenting their works.
The layout of the first theaters was simple. In the center was an orchestra - a round platform where the choir was located. Behind her was a chamber in which the actors (skena) changed clothes. The audience hall (theatron) was of considerable size and was located on a hill, semicircle around the stage.
All theaters were located directly in the open. Originally they were temporary. For every holiday, wooden platforms were built anew. In the 5th century BC, places for spectators began to be carved from stone right on the side of the hill. This created a regular and natural funnel that promotes good acoustics. To enhance the resonance of sound, special vessels were placed near the audience.
With the improvement of the theater, the construction of the stage becomes more complicated. Its front part consisted of columns and imitated the front facade of the temples. On each side were rooms - parasitic. They kept scenery and theater equipment. In Athens, the largest theater was the theater of Dionysus.
Acropolis of Athens
Some monuments of ancient Greek architecture can be seen now. One of the most integral structures that have survived to this day is the Acropolis of Athens. It is located on Mount Pyrgos at an altitude of 156 meters. Here are the theater of Dionysus, the temple of the goddess Athena Parthenon, the sanctuary of Zeus, Artemis, Nicky and other famous buildings.
The temples of the Acropolis of Athens are characterized by a combination of all three order systems. The combination of styles marks the Parthenon. It is built in the form of the Doric periphery, the inner frieze of which is made in the Ionic style.
In the center, surrounded by columns, was a statue of Athena. The acropolis had an important political role. Its appearance was supposed to emphasize the hegemony of the city, and the composition of the Parthenon was to sing the victory of democracy over the aristocratic system.
Next to the majestic and pathos building of the Parthenon is the Erechtheion. It is entirely made in the ionic order. Unlike his "neighbor", he sings of grace and beauty. The temple is dedicated to two gods at once - Poseidon and Athena, and is located on the place where, according to legend, they had a dispute.
Due to the nature of the terrain, the layout of the Erechtheion is asymmetrical. It has two sanctuaries - the cella and two entrances. , , ( ).
In addition, the Propylaea - the main entrance, surrounded by columns and porticoes, on the sides of which the palace and park complex was preserved, remained in the acropolis. Arreforion, a home for girls weaving clothing for the Athenian games, was also located on a hill.