The Greek temple (in ancient Greek ναός naós 'temple',[1] semantically different from the Latin templum,-i) was a structure built to house the cult image in the religion of Ancient Greece. The temples themselves did not usually serve as places of worship, since the veneration of the god, as well as the sacrifices dedicated to him, took place outside of them. Temples were often used to store votive offerings. It was the most important and most widespread type of construction in Greek architecture. In the Hellenistic kingdoms of southwest Asia and North Africa, buildings erected to fulfill the functions of a temple often followed local architectural norms. Even where a Greek influence is visible, such structures are not normally considered Greek temples. This applies, for example, to Greek-Parthian buildings, Bactrian temples or buildings of Egyptian tradition from the Ptolemaic Empire. The temple can be considered the most successful achievement of Greek architecture. The codification that, in the archaic age, was developed by temple architecture will become, with Hellenism, the universal language of the Mediterranean world.
Characteristics
The Greek temples were located in the sacred area of the city-states, next to the sanctuaries "Sanctuary (building)"). They were located in a different place than the theater "Greek Theater (architecture)") and the civil area, where the agora was located. In this sacred precinct or temenos, the gods, ceremonies and pilgrimages were worshiped. It could also house constructions of practical use, such as the "Treasury (Greece)") (thesàuroi), which housed votive gifts - precious or even terracotta - offered by the city or by simple citizens, halls for the "Symposium (Ancient Greece)" banquets (hestiatoria) and porticos (stoai). The entrance to the sacred area could be protected by the propylaea.
The authentic building was for the Greeks the house of the god (oikos), located in the cella "Cella (architecture)") (naos "Naos (architecture)")). It is now known as "nave" "Nave (architecture)"). This housed the statue of the divinity, and the priest was the only one who had access. The cult took place on an altar "Altar (religion)") raised in front of the temple, but always within the temenos.
Most Greek temples were oriented astronomically.[2] The Greek temple is always oriented east-west, with the entrance facing east. In this peculiarity it clearly differs from Roman temples which, instead, tend to be oriented north-south, placed at the top of a podium "Podium (architecture)") which is accessed by a wide staircase to the south.
mythological architecture
Introduction
The Greek temple (in ancient Greek ναός naós 'temple',[1] semantically different from the Latin templum,-i) was a structure built to house the cult image in the religion of Ancient Greece. The temples themselves did not usually serve as places of worship, since the veneration of the god, as well as the sacrifices dedicated to him, took place outside of them. Temples were often used to store votive offerings. It was the most important and most widespread type of construction in Greek architecture. In the Hellenistic kingdoms of southwest Asia and North Africa, buildings erected to fulfill the functions of a temple often followed local architectural norms. Even where a Greek influence is visible, such structures are not normally considered Greek temples. This applies, for example, to Greek-Parthian buildings, Bactrian temples or buildings of Egyptian tradition from the Ptolemaic Empire. The temple can be considered the most successful achievement of Greek architecture. The codification that, in the archaic age, was developed by temple architecture will become, with Hellenism, the universal language of the Mediterranean world.
Characteristics
The Greek temples were located in the sacred area of the city-states, next to the sanctuaries "Sanctuary (building)"). They were located in a different place than the theater "Greek Theater (architecture)") and the civil area, where the agora was located. In this sacred precinct or temenos, the gods, ceremonies and pilgrimages were worshiped. It could also house constructions of practical use, such as the "Treasury (Greece)") (thesàuroi), which housed votive gifts - precious or even terracotta - offered by the city or by simple citizens, halls for the "Symposium (Ancient Greece)" banquets (hestiatoria) and porticos (stoai). The entrance to the sacred area could be protected by the propylaea.
The authentic building was for the Greeks the house of the god (oikos), located in the cella "Cella (architecture)") (naos "Naos (architecture)")). It is now known as "nave" "Nave (architecture)"). This housed the statue of the divinity, and the priest was the only one who had access. The cult took place on an altar "Altar (religion)") raised in front of the temple, but always within the temenos.
The crepidoma or krepis is the platform of the temple, in it the stylobate is a base on which the Greek temples rest, from it the columns rise and in turn rest on the stereobates, which are the steps that give height to the temple (the number of which changes depending on the order of the temple). The Greek temple differs from the later Roman temples in that the Greek temple is not elevated from the ground level on a high podium, only having stairs at each end (the stereobats).
Although the Greeks knew the arch "Arco (architecture)") they used an architraved or lintel architecture with a gable roof, so on the smaller sides of the facades they formed a triangle called a pediment "Fronton (architecture)"). The inner space of the pediment is called the tympanum "Tympanum (architecture)") and was often decorated with sculptures.
In Greek temples there could sometimes be walls, such walls could be formed by pilasters or be separations only induced by the presence of columns "Column (architecture)"). The arrangement of the columns determines the classification of the types of plan "Plan (architecture)") of the Greek temple, which has been transmitted by Vitruvius (De architectura, 3,2):.
The hypeter temple (hypaethros) is also cited, in which, due to the colossal dimensions that made it impossible to build the roof, the cella (or its central nave "Nave (architecture)") was uncovered, lacking a roof.
The space in front of the entrance to the cella takes the name of pronaos or prodromos, and was normally delimited by columns. The opisthodome was the space opposite the pronaos at the rear of the cella and may or may not have communication with the naos. When there was another space at the back of the cella (characteristic especially of the Doric temples in Sicily), it was then called ádyton.
The Greek temple differs from its Roman equivalent in that the colonnade most often forms a peristyle around the entire structure and not a mere portico in front. According to the number of columns present on the façade of the temple, it is defined as:
Rare is the case of an odd number of columns that is a sign of archaicity as in the "enastyle" temple of Hera in Paestum or the "pentastyle" temple of Apollo "Temple of Apollo (Thermus)") in Thermon, from the century BC. C. The number of the side columns is proportional to that of the façade columns, and can be equal to double, double + 1, or double + 2: for example, a hexastyle temple could have twelve, or more frequently thirteen or fourteen columns on the long sides; rarely fifteen or sixteen.
The colonnades were built using the trilithic system, that is, "three stones": two vertical supports and a horizontal element, which covers the space between the two. From this, the various architectural orders are elaborated, characterized by precise proportional relationships between the various elements that compose it. The column "Column (architecture)"), formed by capital, shaft and sometimes base, has an entablature at the top, composed of architrave, frieze and cornice. On the short sides, front and rear façade, the gable roof determines the presence of a pediment "Fronton (architecture)"), on which in turn are supported – in the corners and at the vertex – decorative sculptures generally in painted terracotta, the acroteras.
The Greek temple was designed and built according to firm standards, the key reference points of which were the bottom diameter of the columns or the measurements of the foundation. The module was the diameter of the column shaft at its base. From this unit of measurement the size of the columns was determined.[3].
As for the materials used, "Poros (stone)") was used at first, which could be a conglomerate "Conglomerate (geology)") or sandstone. An example of the use of pores is the temple of Zeus at Olympia, currently in ruins. Then hard limestone was used. Marble was not used until the middle of the century BC. C., since it was difficult to work with. Marble was used in the Parthenon and in the temple of Apollo at Delphi "Temple of Apollo (Delphi)").[4].
Aesthetic refinements were separated from the almost mathematical rigidity of design principles. Contrary to what is still popularly believed, Greek temples were painted in bright colors (red, blue and white). The polychrome made the temple stand out from the landscape. The figure decoration was extremely rich, with "Relief (art)") reliefs and statues on the metopes situated alternating with the triglyphs on the frieze just below the pediment.
History
Contenido
En unos pocos siglos los griegos desarrollaron sus templos desde pequeños edificios de adobe del siglo a. C. y el siglo a. C., hasta monumentales edificios con dobles salas de columnas del siglo a. C., que alcanzaban fácilmente los 20 m de altura sin contar el tejado.
Origins
According to Vitruvius (De architectura, 2,1,3) the structure of the Greek temple comes from the ancient buildings of clay and wooden beams, initially used as a room, whose plan seems to be characterized by a curved finish, replaced only at the end of the century BC. C. by rectangular plants.
One of the oldest examples of temple structures is represented by a monumental tomb at Lefkandi, on the island of Euboea, which dates back to the beginning of the century BC. C. It was a building with a narrow and elongated floor plan (10 x 45 m), topped at the back by an apse, with clay and wood walls protected by a wide roof. The roof protruded above the walls, supported by a row of 67 free-standing wooden supports, which are the first example of a peristyle. The building, internally subdivided into three openings, was used for the rich burial of a royal couple and perhaps constituted a heroon (that is, tomb-sanctuary of a chief, considered a divine protector).[5].
Another more recent example is the Beach Hut of Eretria, a structure discovered under the temple of Apollo Daphnephorus, with a length of 35 m, still topped with an apse and with the roof supported by a row of central supports, which dates back to the end of the century BC. C. The latest research has questioned the sacred function of the Daphnephorium of Eretria, seeing in it the abode of a local wanax "Anax (king)") (sovereign), inside which the ritual practices carried out by the head of the community took place.
A peripteral temple dedicated to Artemis, with a semicircular pronaos with wooden columns, has recently been discovered near Patras (in Ano Mazaraki).[6].
While in continental Greece the apse plan seems to have spread, in Crete they are found in the century BC. C. buildings with a rectangular plan and a flat roof: among the most notable examples is Temple A of Prinias (around 625-620 BC), which lacks architectural orders and with sculpted decorations, in which the presence of an internal fire recalls the Mycenaean structure of the megaron.[7] In Asia Minor they were erected from the century BC onwards. C. the great temples of Samos and Eretria.
The temple of Isthmia, built in the first half of the century BC. C. and headquarters since 582 BC. C. of the Isthmian Games in honor of Poseidon, it presents a less elongated cella (1:4) and a peristyle of 7 x 18 columns. The walls of the cella were built in opus quadratum with regular limestone blocks. The roof covering with terracotta tiles made it necessary to replace the simple posts used as support with columns. The cella was subdivided inside into two naves by a row of central supports. The use of tiles is still attested in the course of the same century in the sanctuaries of Peracora and Delphi.
The temple of the sanctuary of Apollo at Thermos "Thermus (Greece)"), in Aetolia (around 625 BC, preceded by older buildings with an apse floor plan), presented the walls of the cella in adobe, supported on a stone platform on which traces of the support of the wooden columns of the peristyle remained. The cella still had two naves "Nave (architecture)") and featured a deep opisthodomos at the back. Its external walls were decorated by a frieze on painted terracotta slabs.
Classic era
For the design they resorted to specific decorative construction elements of different architectural orders, initially differentiating between the Doric and the Ionic, to which from the end of the century BC. C. the Corinthian joined. A multitude of different design options were developed, which were combined with the new architectural orders. From century BC. C. the construction of large temples declined, with a brief flourishing at the end of the century BC. C. to succumb almost completely in the course of the century BC. C. Only minor construction tasks, renovation of older temples or continuation for completion were undertaken again.
Temples were usually promoted and financed by cities and sanctuary administrations, but were also built and owned by individuals, mostly Hellenistic rulers. With the depletion of the sources of financing of late Hellenism and the incorporation of Greek culture into the Roman Empire, administrative officials and rulers appeared as new clients and the construction of Greek temples ended. The result was the buildings that are now part of Roman architecture, which served other purposes and had more developed forms.
doric temple
A medida que los griegos se hicieron más adeptos a los edificios monumentales, los estilos arquitectónicos regionales cuajaron en los diversos órdenes hoy conocidos. El dórico y el jónico son considerados los estilos clásicos. El orden corintio se añade en el siglo a. C. y el capitel compuesto aparece durante el período helenístico.[3].
Origins and its evolution
The Doric temple is the prototype of a Greek temple. After a long period of development in the geometric and orientalizing periods, the Doric temple appears in its canonical form in the century BC. C. and spread throughout the Greek world in the following centuries. Its dimensions and proportions are, in general, balanced and harmonious. The origin is found in wooden constructions, which stone aims to imitate.[3] For example, the triglyphs seem to derive from the head of the roof beams, while the metopes would be nothing more than the evolution of the closing panels between one beam and the other. This would be confirmed even by the position of the triglyphs, placed on the axis of each column "Column (architecture)") and hence it is logical from a structural point of view; as well as the drops "Drop (architecture)") located below the triglyphs, would represent nothing other than the heads of the original nails.
The origins of the Doric order in wooden architecture are also confirmed by literary sources such as Pausanias "Pausanias (geographer)"), who when describing the ancient temple of Hera at Olympia still mentions wooden columns,[8] which were progressively replaced by stone columns.
One of the earliest temples, lying between the archaic and classical periods of Greek art, is the temple of Aphaea, one of the three temples of the sacred triangle of Parthenon, Sounion and Aphaea on Aegina. It dates from the end of the century BC. C. or beginning of the century BC. C. The temple dedicated to Poseidon at Cape Sounion was built on the ruins of a temple that dated back to the archaic period; It was built in 444-440 BC. C..
Features of the Doric temple
The concept that is at the base of the Greek temple, and that is found particularly in the Doric temple, is the relationship between the divine and human elements that continually interact. The Greek religion is very different from the Eastern religion (for example among the Egyptians), where the divine is clearly separated from the human, the interior of a temple is the privilege of a restricted priestly caste and even the architecture is imposing and "heavy", typical of an unattainable divinity who is in the heights and dominates everything. The different religious concept that the Greeks had is discovered in the architectural construction of the Greek temple, which is closely functional in its concept of relationship with the divine.
The Greek temple is built by the people. He went to the temple, participated in the processions that took place in the peristyle of the temple around the cella. Just as the Olympic divinities were present among human beings and interacted with them, interfering in their vicissitudes, in the same way the temple is a construction that is at the same time open and closed, where the interior interacts with the exterior and the exterior with the interior. The peristyle is covered but it is a place open to the outside: light enters the interior of the temple, and from the outside the internal shadows and darkness are captured; In this game a fundamental role is played by the shapes of the columns, their grooves, the relationship between the columns and the intervals, the general proportions of the building.
The structure is simple. The plant is rectangular. It is surrounded by a colonnade that supports the gabled roof. Another colonnade, inside, surrounds the cella.
Characteristic elements of Doric are:
Finally, it must be remembered that the entire decorative apparatus was an integral part of the Doric temple. Although in general it has been completely lost, in the course of the excavations of the temples, numerous fragments or parts of them are always found, often allowing the identification of the divinity that was venerated there. The decorative apparatus consisted of:
Regardless of the origin or culture of the people, or the historical-artistic knowledge they possess, the sight of a Doric temple is instinctively received by everyone as something extraordinary and beautiful; and not only because of the imposing dimensions of the temple. This sensation is due to the intrinsic harmony that the Doric order possesses and that derives largely from the dimensions of its elements and the relationship between the various architectural parts. There is a search for a balanced balance between the vertical and the horizontal, between fullness and emptiness.
Between the filled spaces and the empty spaces in the Doric temple, such equivalence is created when creating a structural unit that the empty spaces acquire a value equal to the occupied ones, thus becoming architectural elements. «The two elements, that is, the full and the empty, are now inseparable, just as the notes and the silences are inseparable in a musical text..." (Mario Napoli").
The Doric temple is built entirely on the module "Module (architecture)"). The module is the average diameter of the column at the base. The module can also be the measurement of the intercolumnio, this is the space between two columns in the front of the temple. The module becomes the meter on which everything in the temple is built.
The Doric order is not constant. Although the essential principles of harmony are found in the oldest Doric temples, classical perfection could only be achieved progressively thanks to a continuous adjustment of inconsistencies and the punctual and systematic correction of the defects they found. And this is found both in the singular architectural elements and in the buildings in their complex (see below "Doric temples of Magna Graecia").
The problem of searching for a harmony that also occurs in the proportions between the long and short sides of a Doric temple is found in the oldest examples from Selinunte, where temples C and F are still relatively narrow and somewhat elongated (temple C even has 6 x 17 columns).
Also part of this obsessive search for harmony are:
Even though perfection was achieved in the architecture of the Doric temple in the classical era, the mere mathematical precision applied to the architectural elements was not enough for the Greeks, who had the visual perfection of the temple in great consideration, for which they applied a series of imperceptible optical corrections so that not only the architecture but also its appearance was perfect.
These optical corrections that are discovered when measuring architectural elements are:[4].
Doric temples in Magna Graecia and Sicily
This model of Doric temple is found not only in mainland Greece and its islands but, when Greek colonization spread westward, it reached Magna Graecia.
Among the Doric temples that can be found in southern Italy are the temple of Demeter, the basilica or temple of Hera "Temple of Hera (Paestum)") (c. 550 BC) and the temple of Poseidon in Paestum. Specifically, the temple of Hera, called "Basilica", is one of the oldest and presents archaizing features: a cella with two naves, an odd number of columns in the front, very accentuated entasis and conicity in the columns and very flattened capitals. The evolution of the Doric temple can be followed in Paestum by comparing above all the shape of the capitals of the temples called "Basilica", "of Demeter" or "Ceres" and "of Hera", called "of Neptune", in addition to the shape of its columns and the plan of the temples. Those of Paestum are the best preserved Doric temples, especially those called "of Neptune" and "of Ceres." The latter also presents a stylistic peculiarity: its peristyle is Doric, while inside the pronaos columns are already in the Ionic style.
In Sicily there is the temple of Apollo in Ortygia, one of the oldest, as revealed by the monolithic columns. On the island, the Valley of the Temples (Agrigento) stands out, where the largest temples are located. The temple of Olympian Zeus "Temple of Olympian Zeus (Agrigento)") is 113 x 56 m, with columns 14 to 19 meters high, 4.30 m in diameter. In the Valley of the Temples there is also Temple F or the so-called Concordia "Temple of Concordia (Agrigento)") (c. 430 BC), one of the best preserved classical Greek temples, maintaining almost the entire peristyle and entablature; Also notable are those of Hera and Heracles "Temple of Heracles (Agrigento)").
In addition, there are temples in Selinunte: temple E (century BC) dedicated to Hera and temple G stand out. The latter is large: 113 x 54 m, with columns 16 meters high and 3.40 meters in diameter and, furthermore, as its construction lasted 120 years, it presents an archaic Doric on the eastern façade, while to the west it is a classic Doric.
There are also remains in Segesta. There is the "unfinished temple" (c. 430 BC), a Doric (incomplete) pseudo-temple, where the columns do not have grooves and inside the temple there is no cella, while the blocks of the basement still have the protuberances that were used for their elevation and installation.
Examples of Doric temples transformed into Christian churches are recognizable in the interior of the Cathedral of Syracuse (Temple of Athena "Temple of Athena (Syracuse)") and on the façade of the Cathedral of Gela.
You can see Doric temples reduced to imposing piles of ruins in Selinunte and Agrigento, destroyed by the Carthaginians (409-406 BC) or by earthquakes suffered in the Byzantine era (1st century BC).
The most important temple
The Doric style reaches its full potential in the Parthenon located on the acropolis of Athens, "the pinnacle creation in the history of architecture."[4] It is the most important example of a building dedicated to a temple in the Doric order, although with proportions that are close to the Ionic. It is dedicated to the goddess Athena and can be considered the best-known Greek temple. Despite its enormous dimensions, it has the perfect proportions of the correspondence between the various parts and the whole. The balance and modular relationships that constitute the base geometry are not rigidly applied, but various optical corrections are also found in the columns and stylobate.
Its festivals were celebrated in and around it every year. The Parthenon strongly influenced Roman architecture. After the Romans conquered Greece, many tourists from the victorious country went to see the Greek temples, and the Parthenon soon became one of the most popular tourist destinations in Greece.
Beneath the Acropolis of Athens is the Temple of Hephaestus, long known as the “Temple of Theseus” (449-444 BC), the best preserved Greek temple from ancient times.
Ionic temple
The appearance of the Ionic temple, the oldest of which seems to have been the Hereus of Samos, can be dated to around the middle of the century BC. C. It is originally from Asia Minor.[3] In addition to the shape, lighter and finer than that of the Doric temple, it is characterized by some innovative elements:.
Examples of Ionic temples, witnessed above all in the Greek cities of Asia Minor, are the Temple of Athena Nike on the Acropolis, the temple of Artemis in Ephesus, that of Athena Polyade in Priene, and the gigantic temple of Apollo "Apollo (mythology)") in Didyma, near Miletus "Miletus (Asia Minor)"), from the Hellenistic period.
corinthian temple
The structure of the Corinthian temple is not different from the Ionic one, except for the capital, decorated with acanthus leaves "Acanthus (decoration)"), and also for the base of the column "Column (architecture)"), different from the Ionic one. The capital is formed by two bodies, the lower one with a double row of acanthus leaves and some caulicles or stems that emerge between these leaves and curl up at the corners and centers. The abacus "Abaco (architecture)") is curved and thinner. Legend has it that the Greek sculptor Callimachus "Callimachus (artist)") was casually inspired by a basket he found near a tomb. The basket, left by some relatives of the deceased, was closed on top of a square stone (a kind of abacus) and an acanthus plant had grown beneath it, whose leaves bloomed around the basket. The base of the columns can be further enhanced by the use of a plinth.
The new foliage on the capital appears in isolation already at the end of the century BC. C. in the temple of Apollo Epicurius "Temple of Apollo (Figalia)") in Bassae (c. 450 BC). In the century BC. C. we find the Corinthian adopted in the tholos of Epidaurus and in the Philippeus "Filipeo (Olympia)") of Olympia. Entirely Corinthian temple buildings are found only in the Hellenistic era and would have an enormous diffusion in Roman architecture.
The composite order
The composite order, very late, unites the acanthus leaves typical of the Corinthian capital with the volutes typical of the Ionic order.[3].
[3] ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k «El arte griego y sus precedentes», por José María de Azcárate Ristori en Historia del arte, ediciones Anaya, S.A. 1986 - Madrid. ISBN 84-207-1408-9.
[4] ↑ a b c d e «El arte clásico: Grecia», por E. Barnechea y otros en Historia del arte, ediciones Vicens-Vives, S.A. 1984 - Barcelona. ISBN 84-316-1780-2.
[5] ↑ J. J. Coulton, Lefkandi II. The Protogeometric Building at Toumba, 2. The Excavation, Architecture and Finds (Annuals of the British School at Athens), Londres 1993.
[6] ↑ M. Petropoulos, "The Geometric Temple of Ano Mazaraki (Rakita) in Achaia during the Period of Colonization", en Emanuele Greco (ed.), Gli Achei e l'dentità etnica degli Achei d'Occidente, (Tekmeria, 3) Paestum - Atenas, 2002, pp. 143-164.
[7] ↑ La continuidad con la arquitectura micénica está atestiguada por la construcción de un templo dedicado a Hera en correspondencia con el megaron del palacio de Tirinto, que data de mediados del siglo VIII a. C.: Ortolani 2006, p.18.
[8] ↑ Pausanias V,20,6.
[9] ↑ Esta correspondencia del basamento es en general aquella que menos resulta, o porque el área que rodea al templo está aún semi enterrada, o porque está demasiado excavada (como en el caso de Paestum donde el actual plano de pisada queda muy por debajo del originario de la época griega).
Most Greek temples were oriented astronomically.[2] The Greek temple is always oriented east-west, with the entrance facing east. In this peculiarity it clearly differs from Roman temples which, instead, tend to be oriented north-south, placed at the top of a podium "Podium (architecture)") which is accessed by a wide staircase to the south.
The crepidoma or krepis is the platform of the temple, in it the stylobate is a base on which the Greek temples rest, from it the columns rise and in turn rest on the stereobates, which are the steps that give height to the temple (the number of which changes depending on the order of the temple). The Greek temple differs from the later Roman temples in that the Greek temple is not elevated from the ground level on a high podium, only having stairs at each end (the stereobats).
Although the Greeks knew the arch "Arco (architecture)") they used an architraved or lintel architecture with a gable roof, so on the smaller sides of the facades they formed a triangle called a pediment "Fronton (architecture)"). The inner space of the pediment is called the tympanum "Tympanum (architecture)") and was often decorated with sculptures.
In Greek temples there could sometimes be walls, such walls could be formed by pilasters or be separations only induced by the presence of columns "Column (architecture)"). The arrangement of the columns determines the classification of the types of plan "Plan (architecture)") of the Greek temple, which has been transmitted by Vitruvius (De architectura, 3,2):.
The hypeter temple (hypaethros) is also cited, in which, due to the colossal dimensions that made it impossible to build the roof, the cella (or its central nave "Nave (architecture)") was uncovered, lacking a roof.
The space in front of the entrance to the cella takes the name of pronaos or prodromos, and was normally delimited by columns. The opisthodome was the space opposite the pronaos at the rear of the cella and may or may not have communication with the naos. When there was another space at the back of the cella (characteristic especially of the Doric temples in Sicily), it was then called ádyton.
The Greek temple differs from its Roman equivalent in that the colonnade most often forms a peristyle around the entire structure and not a mere portico in front. According to the number of columns present on the façade of the temple, it is defined as:
Rare is the case of an odd number of columns that is a sign of archaicity as in the "enastyle" temple of Hera in Paestum or the "pentastyle" temple of Apollo "Temple of Apollo (Thermus)") in Thermon, from the century BC. C. The number of the side columns is proportional to that of the façade columns, and can be equal to double, double + 1, or double + 2: for example, a hexastyle temple could have twelve, or more frequently thirteen or fourteen columns on the long sides; rarely fifteen or sixteen.
The colonnades were built using the trilithic system, that is, "three stones": two vertical supports and a horizontal element, which covers the space between the two. From this, the various architectural orders are elaborated, characterized by precise proportional relationships between the various elements that compose it. The column "Column (architecture)"), formed by capital, shaft and sometimes base, has an entablature at the top, composed of architrave, frieze and cornice. On the short sides, front and rear façade, the gable roof determines the presence of a pediment "Fronton (architecture)"), on which in turn are supported – in the corners and at the vertex – decorative sculptures generally in painted terracotta, the acroteras.
The Greek temple was designed and built according to firm standards, the key reference points of which were the bottom diameter of the columns or the measurements of the foundation. The module was the diameter of the column shaft at its base. From this unit of measurement the size of the columns was determined.[3].
As for the materials used, "Poros (stone)") was used at first, which could be a conglomerate "Conglomerate (geology)") or sandstone. An example of the use of pores is the temple of Zeus at Olympia, currently in ruins. Then hard limestone was used. Marble was not used until the middle of the century BC. C., since it was difficult to work with. Marble was used in the Parthenon and in the temple of Apollo at Delphi "Temple of Apollo (Delphi)").[4].
Aesthetic refinements were separated from the almost mathematical rigidity of design principles. Contrary to what is still popularly believed, Greek temples were painted in bright colors (red, blue and white). The polychrome made the temple stand out from the landscape. The figure decoration was extremely rich, with "Relief (art)") reliefs and statues on the metopes situated alternating with the triglyphs on the frieze just below the pediment.
History
Contenido
En unos pocos siglos los griegos desarrollaron sus templos desde pequeños edificios de adobe del siglo a. C. y el siglo a. C., hasta monumentales edificios con dobles salas de columnas del siglo a. C., que alcanzaban fácilmente los 20 m de altura sin contar el tejado.
Origins
According to Vitruvius (De architectura, 2,1,3) the structure of the Greek temple comes from the ancient buildings of clay and wooden beams, initially used as a room, whose plan seems to be characterized by a curved finish, replaced only at the end of the century BC. C. by rectangular plants.
One of the oldest examples of temple structures is represented by a monumental tomb at Lefkandi, on the island of Euboea, which dates back to the beginning of the century BC. C. It was a building with a narrow and elongated floor plan (10 x 45 m), topped at the back by an apse, with clay and wood walls protected by a wide roof. The roof protruded above the walls, supported by a row of 67 free-standing wooden supports, which are the first example of a peristyle. The building, internally subdivided into three openings, was used for the rich burial of a royal couple and perhaps constituted a heroon (that is, tomb-sanctuary of a chief, considered a divine protector).[5].
Another more recent example is the Beach Hut of Eretria, a structure discovered under the temple of Apollo Daphnephorus, with a length of 35 m, still topped with an apse and with the roof supported by a row of central supports, which dates back to the end of the century BC. C. The latest research has questioned the sacred function of the Daphnephorium of Eretria, seeing in it the abode of a local wanax "Anax (king)") (sovereign), inside which the ritual practices carried out by the head of the community took place.
A peripteral temple dedicated to Artemis, with a semicircular pronaos with wooden columns, has recently been discovered near Patras (in Ano Mazaraki).[6].
While in continental Greece the apse plan seems to have spread, in Crete they are found in the century BC. C. buildings with a rectangular plan and a flat roof: among the most notable examples is Temple A of Prinias (around 625-620 BC), which lacks architectural orders and with sculpted decorations, in which the presence of an internal fire recalls the Mycenaean structure of the megaron.[7] In Asia Minor they were erected from the century BC onwards. C. the great temples of Samos and Eretria.
The temple of Isthmia, built in the first half of the century BC. C. and headquarters since 582 BC. C. of the Isthmian Games in honor of Poseidon, it presents a less elongated cella (1:4) and a peristyle of 7 x 18 columns. The walls of the cella were built in opus quadratum with regular limestone blocks. The roof covering with terracotta tiles made it necessary to replace the simple posts used as support with columns. The cella was subdivided inside into two naves by a row of central supports. The use of tiles is still attested in the course of the same century in the sanctuaries of Peracora and Delphi.
The temple of the sanctuary of Apollo at Thermos "Thermus (Greece)"), in Aetolia (around 625 BC, preceded by older buildings with an apse floor plan), presented the walls of the cella in adobe, supported on a stone platform on which traces of the support of the wooden columns of the peristyle remained. The cella still had two naves "Nave (architecture)") and featured a deep opisthodomos at the back. Its external walls were decorated by a frieze on painted terracotta slabs.
Classic era
For the design they resorted to specific decorative construction elements of different architectural orders, initially differentiating between the Doric and the Ionic, to which from the end of the century BC. C. the Corinthian joined. A multitude of different design options were developed, which were combined with the new architectural orders. From century BC. C. the construction of large temples declined, with a brief flourishing at the end of the century BC. C. to succumb almost completely in the course of the century BC. C. Only minor construction tasks, renovation of older temples or continuation for completion were undertaken again.
Temples were usually promoted and financed by cities and sanctuary administrations, but were also built and owned by individuals, mostly Hellenistic rulers. With the depletion of the sources of financing of late Hellenism and the incorporation of Greek culture into the Roman Empire, administrative officials and rulers appeared as new clients and the construction of Greek temples ended. The result was the buildings that are now part of Roman architecture, which served other purposes and had more developed forms.
doric temple
A medida que los griegos se hicieron más adeptos a los edificios monumentales, los estilos arquitectónicos regionales cuajaron en los diversos órdenes hoy conocidos. El dórico y el jónico son considerados los estilos clásicos. El orden corintio se añade en el siglo a. C. y el capitel compuesto aparece durante el período helenístico.[3].
Origins and its evolution
The Doric temple is the prototype of a Greek temple. After a long period of development in the geometric and orientalizing periods, the Doric temple appears in its canonical form in the century BC. C. and spread throughout the Greek world in the following centuries. Its dimensions and proportions are, in general, balanced and harmonious. The origin is found in wooden constructions, which stone aims to imitate.[3] For example, the triglyphs seem to derive from the head of the roof beams, while the metopes would be nothing more than the evolution of the closing panels between one beam and the other. This would be confirmed even by the position of the triglyphs, placed on the axis of each column "Column (architecture)") and hence it is logical from a structural point of view; as well as the drops "Drop (architecture)") located below the triglyphs, would represent nothing other than the heads of the original nails.
The origins of the Doric order in wooden architecture are also confirmed by literary sources such as Pausanias "Pausanias (geographer)"), who when describing the ancient temple of Hera at Olympia still mentions wooden columns,[8] which were progressively replaced by stone columns.
One of the earliest temples, lying between the archaic and classical periods of Greek art, is the temple of Aphaea, one of the three temples of the sacred triangle of Parthenon, Sounion and Aphaea on Aegina. It dates from the end of the century BC. C. or beginning of the century BC. C. The temple dedicated to Poseidon at Cape Sounion was built on the ruins of a temple that dated back to the archaic period; It was built in 444-440 BC. C..
Features of the Doric temple
The concept that is at the base of the Greek temple, and that is found particularly in the Doric temple, is the relationship between the divine and human elements that continually interact. The Greek religion is very different from the Eastern religion (for example among the Egyptians), where the divine is clearly separated from the human, the interior of a temple is the privilege of a restricted priestly caste and even the architecture is imposing and "heavy", typical of an unattainable divinity who is in the heights and dominates everything. The different religious concept that the Greeks had is discovered in the architectural construction of the Greek temple, which is closely functional in its concept of relationship with the divine.
The Greek temple is built by the people. He went to the temple, participated in the processions that took place in the peristyle of the temple around the cella. Just as the Olympic divinities were present among human beings and interacted with them, interfering in their vicissitudes, in the same way the temple is a construction that is at the same time open and closed, where the interior interacts with the exterior and the exterior with the interior. The peristyle is covered but it is a place open to the outside: light enters the interior of the temple, and from the outside the internal shadows and darkness are captured; In this game a fundamental role is played by the shapes of the columns, their grooves, the relationship between the columns and the intervals, the general proportions of the building.
The structure is simple. The plant is rectangular. It is surrounded by a colonnade that supports the gabled roof. Another colonnade, inside, surrounds the cella.
Characteristic elements of Doric are:
Finally, it must be remembered that the entire decorative apparatus was an integral part of the Doric temple. Although in general it has been completely lost, in the course of the excavations of the temples, numerous fragments or parts of them are always found, often allowing the identification of the divinity that was venerated there. The decorative apparatus consisted of:
Regardless of the origin or culture of the people, or the historical-artistic knowledge they possess, the sight of a Doric temple is instinctively received by everyone as something extraordinary and beautiful; and not only because of the imposing dimensions of the temple. This sensation is due to the intrinsic harmony that the Doric order possesses and that derives largely from the dimensions of its elements and the relationship between the various architectural parts. There is a search for a balanced balance between the vertical and the horizontal, between fullness and emptiness.
Between the filled spaces and the empty spaces in the Doric temple, such equivalence is created when creating a structural unit that the empty spaces acquire a value equal to the occupied ones, thus becoming architectural elements. «The two elements, that is, the full and the empty, are now inseparable, just as the notes and the silences are inseparable in a musical text..." (Mario Napoli").
The Doric temple is built entirely on the module "Module (architecture)"). The module is the average diameter of the column at the base. The module can also be the measurement of the intercolumnio, this is the space between two columns in the front of the temple. The module becomes the meter on which everything in the temple is built.
The Doric order is not constant. Although the essential principles of harmony are found in the oldest Doric temples, classical perfection could only be achieved progressively thanks to a continuous adjustment of inconsistencies and the punctual and systematic correction of the defects they found. And this is found both in the singular architectural elements and in the buildings in their complex (see below "Doric temples of Magna Graecia").
The problem of searching for a harmony that also occurs in the proportions between the long and short sides of a Doric temple is found in the oldest examples from Selinunte, where temples C and F are still relatively narrow and somewhat elongated (temple C even has 6 x 17 columns).
Also part of this obsessive search for harmony are:
Even though perfection was achieved in the architecture of the Doric temple in the classical era, the mere mathematical precision applied to the architectural elements was not enough for the Greeks, who had the visual perfection of the temple in great consideration, for which they applied a series of imperceptible optical corrections so that not only the architecture but also its appearance was perfect.
These optical corrections that are discovered when measuring architectural elements are:[4].
Doric temples in Magna Graecia and Sicily
This model of Doric temple is found not only in mainland Greece and its islands but, when Greek colonization spread westward, it reached Magna Graecia.
Among the Doric temples that can be found in southern Italy are the temple of Demeter, the basilica or temple of Hera "Temple of Hera (Paestum)") (c. 550 BC) and the temple of Poseidon in Paestum. Specifically, the temple of Hera, called "Basilica", is one of the oldest and presents archaizing features: a cella with two naves, an odd number of columns in the front, very accentuated entasis and conicity in the columns and very flattened capitals. The evolution of the Doric temple can be followed in Paestum by comparing above all the shape of the capitals of the temples called "Basilica", "of Demeter" or "Ceres" and "of Hera", called "of Neptune", in addition to the shape of its columns and the plan of the temples. Those of Paestum are the best preserved Doric temples, especially those called "of Neptune" and "of Ceres." The latter also presents a stylistic peculiarity: its peristyle is Doric, while inside the pronaos columns are already in the Ionic style.
In Sicily there is the temple of Apollo in Ortygia, one of the oldest, as revealed by the monolithic columns. On the island, the Valley of the Temples (Agrigento) stands out, where the largest temples are located. The temple of Olympian Zeus "Temple of Olympian Zeus (Agrigento)") is 113 x 56 m, with columns 14 to 19 meters high, 4.30 m in diameter. In the Valley of the Temples there is also Temple F or the so-called Concordia "Temple of Concordia (Agrigento)") (c. 430 BC), one of the best preserved classical Greek temples, maintaining almost the entire peristyle and entablature; Also notable are those of Hera and Heracles "Temple of Heracles (Agrigento)").
In addition, there are temples in Selinunte: temple E (century BC) dedicated to Hera and temple G stand out. The latter is large: 113 x 54 m, with columns 16 meters high and 3.40 meters in diameter and, furthermore, as its construction lasted 120 years, it presents an archaic Doric on the eastern façade, while to the west it is a classic Doric.
There are also remains in Segesta. There is the "unfinished temple" (c. 430 BC), a Doric (incomplete) pseudo-temple, where the columns do not have grooves and inside the temple there is no cella, while the blocks of the basement still have the protuberances that were used for their elevation and installation.
Examples of Doric temples transformed into Christian churches are recognizable in the interior of the Cathedral of Syracuse (Temple of Athena "Temple of Athena (Syracuse)") and on the façade of the Cathedral of Gela.
You can see Doric temples reduced to imposing piles of ruins in Selinunte and Agrigento, destroyed by the Carthaginians (409-406 BC) or by earthquakes suffered in the Byzantine era (1st century BC).
The most important temple
The Doric style reaches its full potential in the Parthenon located on the acropolis of Athens, "the pinnacle creation in the history of architecture."[4] It is the most important example of a building dedicated to a temple in the Doric order, although with proportions that are close to the Ionic. It is dedicated to the goddess Athena and can be considered the best-known Greek temple. Despite its enormous dimensions, it has the perfect proportions of the correspondence between the various parts and the whole. The balance and modular relationships that constitute the base geometry are not rigidly applied, but various optical corrections are also found in the columns and stylobate.
Its festivals were celebrated in and around it every year. The Parthenon strongly influenced Roman architecture. After the Romans conquered Greece, many tourists from the victorious country went to see the Greek temples, and the Parthenon soon became one of the most popular tourist destinations in Greece.
Beneath the Acropolis of Athens is the Temple of Hephaestus, long known as the “Temple of Theseus” (449-444 BC), the best preserved Greek temple from ancient times.
Ionic temple
The appearance of the Ionic temple, the oldest of which seems to have been the Hereus of Samos, can be dated to around the middle of the century BC. C. It is originally from Asia Minor.[3] In addition to the shape, lighter and finer than that of the Doric temple, it is characterized by some innovative elements:.
Examples of Ionic temples, witnessed above all in the Greek cities of Asia Minor, are the Temple of Athena Nike on the Acropolis, the temple of Artemis in Ephesus, that of Athena Polyade in Priene, and the gigantic temple of Apollo "Apollo (mythology)") in Didyma, near Miletus "Miletus (Asia Minor)"), from the Hellenistic period.
corinthian temple
The structure of the Corinthian temple is not different from the Ionic one, except for the capital, decorated with acanthus leaves "Acanthus (decoration)"), and also for the base of the column "Column (architecture)"), different from the Ionic one. The capital is formed by two bodies, the lower one with a double row of acanthus leaves and some caulicles or stems that emerge between these leaves and curl up at the corners and centers. The abacus "Abaco (architecture)") is curved and thinner. Legend has it that the Greek sculptor Callimachus "Callimachus (artist)") was casually inspired by a basket he found near a tomb. The basket, left by some relatives of the deceased, was closed on top of a square stone (a kind of abacus) and an acanthus plant had grown beneath it, whose leaves bloomed around the basket. The base of the columns can be further enhanced by the use of a plinth.
The new foliage on the capital appears in isolation already at the end of the century BC. C. in the temple of Apollo Epicurius "Temple of Apollo (Figalia)") in Bassae (c. 450 BC). In the century BC. C. we find the Corinthian adopted in the tholos of Epidaurus and in the Philippeus "Filipeo (Olympia)") of Olympia. Entirely Corinthian temple buildings are found only in the Hellenistic era and would have an enormous diffusion in Roman architecture.
The composite order
The composite order, very late, unites the acanthus leaves typical of the Corinthian capital with the volutes typical of the Ionic order.[3].
[3] ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k «El arte griego y sus precedentes», por José María de Azcárate Ristori en Historia del arte, ediciones Anaya, S.A. 1986 - Madrid. ISBN 84-207-1408-9.
[4] ↑ a b c d e «El arte clásico: Grecia», por E. Barnechea y otros en Historia del arte, ediciones Vicens-Vives, S.A. 1984 - Barcelona. ISBN 84-316-1780-2.
[5] ↑ J. J. Coulton, Lefkandi II. The Protogeometric Building at Toumba, 2. The Excavation, Architecture and Finds (Annuals of the British School at Athens), Londres 1993.
[6] ↑ M. Petropoulos, "The Geometric Temple of Ano Mazaraki (Rakita) in Achaia during the Period of Colonization", en Emanuele Greco (ed.), Gli Achei e l'dentità etnica degli Achei d'Occidente, (Tekmeria, 3) Paestum - Atenas, 2002, pp. 143-164.
[7] ↑ La continuidad con la arquitectura micénica está atestiguada por la construcción de un templo dedicado a Hera en correspondencia con el megaron del palacio de Tirinto, que data de mediados del siglo VIII a. C.: Ortolani 2006, p.18.
[8] ↑ Pausanias V,20,6.
[9] ↑ Esta correspondencia del basamento es en general aquella que menos resulta, o porque el área que rodea al templo está aún semi enterrada, o porque está demasiado excavada (como en el caso de Paestum donde el actual plano de pisada queda muy por debajo del originario de la época griega).