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site gives much informations about more
than 30 islands located in both the
Aegean and Ionian Sea. Maps, pictures,
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islands are Santorini, Mykonos, Paros,
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Athens Architecture: A description
of the architecture of Athens
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The Cretan civilization (Minoan, 1800-1300
BC) |
 It
is considered as the earliest architectural period
of Ancient Greece. The most famous heritage of this
period is the huge Palace of Knossos, close to Iraklio
in the island of Crete.
It is an imposing Palace built on a hill next to
the sea and a large forest full of Cephalonian pines,
trees that were used as row material for the construction
of the columns and beams.
The city of Knossos was concentrated around the
Palace and had a population of 100.000 inhabitants.
Many residential buildings can still be seen like
the ·Little Palace·, the ·Royal
Villa· and the ·South House·.
The central court divides the Palace of Knossos
into the West wing where you can visit today the
religious and the official staterooms, and the East
wing which was used for domestic and workshop purpose.
The Palace was destroyed by the eruption of Santorini
around 1450 B.C.
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The Mycenaen (Achaen) civilization (1300-1000
BC) |
 The
Minoan period was followed by the Mycenaen period.
The architecture between the Minoans and the Mycenaen
was very different. The Minoans used to build open
spaces palace with many yards and gardens therefore
the Mycenaen used to build fortified and compact
citadels.
The most important remains of Mycenaen architecture
were found by the archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann
in the 1870s and are located in the Peloponnesus,
in the ancient city states of Mycenae and Tiryns.
The Palace of Mycenae had been destroyed and the
only remains are tombs and walls. According to the
myth, Mycanae is where the house of Atreus was located.
According to myth, Atreus fed his brother Thyestes
with his own children for dinner, in an attempt
of a dynastic struggle. The next generation descending
from Atreus would be cursed until the last one.
Mycanae is also the place where the king Agamemnon
sacrificed his daughter, Iphigenie, to ask the gods
for favourable winds that will help the Greeks to
go to fight against Troy. Returning from this devastating
war, Agamemnon will be killed by his wife Clytemnestra
who will, in her turn, be killed by her children,
Orestes and Electra.
From an architectural point of view, the amazing
engineering expertise of the Mycenaean civilization
can be seen with the famous Lion gate of Mycanaen's
palace and the galleries of the palace at Tiryns.
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Archaic and Classical Greek architecture |
The great advance in Ancient Greek architecture
is visible by the construction of the first monumental
stone temples from the Archaic and Classical periods.
Those temples are characterised by the famous order
of Doric, Ionic and Corinthian style.
:: The Doric order
The best example of the Doric order is the greatest
Greek monument that was ever built: the Parthenon.
The Parthenon is located in a huge rock, the Acropolis,
which stands proudly above the city of Athens. The
Parthenon is the Acropolis's central temple and
was built according to the Doric order. The temple
has the reputation of the most perfect Doric temple
ever built.
The Partenon was built in 477-438 BC by Ictinus
and Callicrates, with the collaboration of Phidias.
The temple stands on the conventional three steps
and has a cella with two rooms with hexastyle prostyle
porches. When it was first built you could find,
inside the colonnades, the fabulous work of Phidias,
the gold and ivory statue of Athena Parthenos, representing
the goddess Athena with her spear, helmet and aegis,
a snake around her and holding the statue of victory.
The ceiling of the temple was supposed to be made
of wood, covered with painted decoration.
An other example of the Doric order is the Temple
of Hera in Olympia which was built in the 6th century
B.C. The temple was built with a total of 14 Doric
columns.
:: The Ionic order
 The
Ionic column is less austere than the Doric one.
It has an ornamented necking, a base in several
tiers and has more flutes. This order is much less
massive than the Doric style and generally more
graceful.
A good example of the Ionic order is the Temple
of Athena Nike (Goddess of Victory) which is located
beside the gateway to the Acropolis. Quite small,
it has four columns at each end of the projecting
porches.
An other example of the Ionic order is the Erechteion
also located in the Acropolis. It is in this temple
where you can admire the famous Porch of the Caryatid
(the Maidens), witch is a prostyle tetrastyle porch
with a roof supported by six beautiful Caryatides
statues.
:: The Corinthian order
 The
Corinthian order appeared at the end of the classical
period. This architectural style was used much by
the Romans. The Corynthian columns were ornated
by a single or double row of leafy scrolls, usually
acanthus.
The best illustration of the Corinthian order is
the Temple of Olympian Zeus in Athens. The structure
of that temple was enormous, exceeding even the
Temple of the Parthenon. It had 104 columns made
of Pentelic marble and each of those columns was
17 meters high. Today, only 15 of these Corynthian
columns are still standing in the middle of the
Olympeion where stood one of the Seven Wonders of
the World, the huge gold statue of Zeus.
The classical period is also characterised by the
construction of all the wonderful theatres that
were built in Greece. There are considered as architectural
wonders and all the great plays of Aeschylus, Sophocles,
Euripides and Aristophanes were all performed there.
Example of theatre of that period are the Theatre
of Dionysos and the theatres of Dodoni, Megalopolis,
Argos and Epidaurus, in wich, during summer festivals,
you can enjoy different events.
The Roman period gave birth to fountains, baths
and gymnasium especially in the town of Corinth.
The best example of the Roman period in Athens is
the Roman Agora, built in the time of Augustus and
standing at the bottom of the Acropolis. The Roman
Agora is well known for the Tower of the Winds.
A century and a half later, the emperor Hadrian
built the famous Arch of Hadrian that still stands
in the centre of Athens and symbolise the frontier
between the Ancient city and the newly built one.
The Byzantine periode explains the incredible amount
of lovely and heavy decorated churches that decorate
the city.
After the War of Independence, during the monarchy,
Athens is embellished by buildings in neoclassical
style like the National Library and the Athens University
in Panepistimiou avenue, the majestic Parlament,
and some hotels and museums. |
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