Ancient Greek Architecture: Crete, Mycenae & Temple Design
Ancient Greece: A Cultural and Architectural Overview
Background: Crete and the Aegean
Crete, an island situated between the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas, boasts a rich history. The Cretan civilization (Neolithic, Bronze Age) thrived through trade, exploration, and naval supremacy, influencing the Peloponnese and the culture of Mycenae.
Architectural Characteristics
Cretan architecture is characterized by:
- Palaces, mansions, private homes, and tombs resembling labyrinths.
- Well-planned layouts with windows.
- Columns that are round.
- Lintel ornamentation with simple drainage systems.
Notably, Cretan cities lacked walls, unlike those in the Peloponnese. Patrons were housed in palace-like structures called Megarons. Underground and circular tombs were also common, exemplified by Mycenaean art.
Materials used included stone, clay, and wood. Major works in Crete include Knossos and Phaestos. Significant Mycenaean works include Mycenae and Tiryns.
Characteristics of Greek Culture
Greek culture flourished in the Eastern Mediterranean, Aegean Islands, Ionian Sea, and Balkan Peninsula. Key aspects include:
- Anthropocentrism: A focus on humanity.
- Human scale: Proportional design.
- Emphasis on aesthetics and proportion.
Greek history is divided into periods:
- Homeric Age (1100-750 BC): Olympic Games.
- Archaic Period (750-450 BC): Rise after the Mycenaean War.
- Classical Greece (450-358 BC): Parthenon and Erechtheion construction.
- Hellenistic Period (338-146 BC): Greece under Macedonian rule.
- Roman Period (146 AD): Greece under Roman rule.
The Greeks practiced a polytheistic religion.
Anthropocentric Architecture
Greek architecture centered on man, human nature, and the gods. It emphasized mathematical reasoning, proportional design, and the integration of arts and sculpture. The post-and-lintel system was favored over arches or vaults. Structures included temples, porticoes, houses, agoras, propylaea, and blinds. Greek temples were designed to be viewed from the outside. Early religious buildings were constructed from wood and adobe. Harmony defined the Greek temple, leading to the development of three classical orders: Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. Perfection was a key concern, evident in the finished walls. Early temples were made of brick, wood, or adobe, later replaced by white marble. The temple was built around the figure of the priest.
Characteristics of Greek Temples
- Uniform rectangular shape, with the exception of the round temple of Apollo at Delphi.
- Located in isolated places.
- Interior divided into three rooms: pronaos, cella, and opisthodomos.
Classification of Temples
- In antis: Columns of the porch are between walls.
- Prostyle: Porch columns are not behind walls, occupying the entire width of the cella.
- Amphiprostyle: Like prostyle but also on the back.
- Peripteral: Cella surrounded by a colonnade.
- Dipteral: Cella surrounded by a double colonnade.
Temples are also classified by the number of columns on the facade, such as distyle, hexastyle, and octastyle.
Greek theaters were circular, typically built on slopes. Greek stadiums lacked a backbone, with grandstands on the slope.
Architectural Orders
The column is a key element of the architectural order, determining the arrangement and proportion of all parts of the temple. The module dimensions are not fixed. The differentiating factor is the capital of the order: Doric, Ionic, or Corinthian.
Morphological Characteristics
- Doric order: Lacks a base.
- Ionic order: Capital consists of spirals, shafts with 24 stripes, supported by columns on pedestals.
- Corinthian order: The abacus is shaped like a plate.
General Concepts
Greek architecture emphasized beauty, perfect light, and sophisticated optics. Despite appearances, true straight lines were rare, with columns inclined inward and the outer surface of the cella walls curved. The Greeks also developed solutions to corner problems in Doric temples.
City Planning
- Acropolis: Located on the top of a hill.
- Miletus: One of the first cities with a grid plan.
- Hippodamus: Introduced the grid system with intersecting streets and a city center.
- Stoa: Long building with colonnades, housing shops and offices.
Building Systems
The Greeks primarily used stone, with a preference for marble. They also used mud and wood. Blocks were fitted together using bone and metal staples and pins of bronze or iron for a better grip.
Foundations
Isolated columns and wall foundations were common.