Ancient Greek Temples and Theaters: Architecture & Design
Ancient Greek Religious Buildings
The temple is the most characteristic monument of Greek architecture. The Greeks considered such buildings absolutely necessary for the worship of their gods. Actually, only an outdoor altar was necessary. The Greeks began to make laws that their gods had to take shelter to protect them, and that is why the temples were built.
Temples, either stone or wood, used to have a simple structure, consisting of a single room which was entered through a portico. The temple interior was usually divided into three parts: pronaos, naos, and opistodomus. The room housing the statue of the god was called naos; the portico was called pronaos (before the naos). The Greeks did not like the front and back parts of their temples to be different and were not normally able to enter the temple from the front porch of the post (called opistodomus), whose purpose was to give the church a more symmetrical appearance. Smaller temples were designed following these guidelines.
The larger temples were exempt buildings situated in an open space that could be viewed from many perspectives.
The temple was built on a platform that usually consisted of three steps (estereóbato). The last step held the stylobate, called the peristyle columns and walls of the ship. The steps surrounded the whole temple.
Temple Features and Names
According to its essential features, temples have various names:
- Hípetro: Homeless.
- Prostyle: Columns only in front.
- In antis: When you extend the walls of the ship.
- Amphiprostyle: Columns on both fronts.
- Peripteros: Surrounded by columns.
- Diptera: Surrounded by two rows of columns.
- Apterous: It has no columns.
- Monopteros: When it is circular and surrounded by columns.
Considering the number of columns you have in the front, temples can be divided into distyle (two columns), tetrastyle (four columns), hexastyle (six columns), octástilo (eight columns), and decástilo (ten columns).
In the archaic period, to conceal the poor quality of the stone and the irregularity of the rig, intense colors were used, and the most used order is Doric. Some of the works of this period include the temple of Poseidon in Naples. In the classical period, in which the most widely used material was marble, the temples were still painted, but with less intense colors. Outstanding works of this period are the temples of the Acropolis of Athens (the Parthenon, the wingless victory, or Athena Nike, the Erechtheion). In the Hellenistic period, there was a general crisis, a crisis that also affected the religious world.
Ancient Greek Theaters
The Greeks built their theater buildings on hillsides. At the foot of the mountain, they made the stands. The Greek theaters are semicircular and consist of three parts:
- Part of the stands, called cáveas.
- The orchestra is circular, the place for the choir.
- The scene, where the work is represented.
Greek theaters are the best in the world for acoustic and visual conditions. There was a rivalry between cities for having the best theater.
The world’s best-preserved theater is the theater of Epidaurus. Other buildings in Greece include the this.
The this are simple galleries with columns that are next to the Agora (Greek Public Square) and are meeting places of gathering.
Distinctive features are the memorial buildings such as the lantern of Lisícrates.