Greek Architecture

Greek architecture was not present until after the 7th century. After this time public buildings started to be constructed but no remains of the building are around today. This is due to the fact that the building materials used for construction at that time were wood and mud. There were also no written sources that describe the building appearances, so not much in known about buildings of the period. Most of what is known of Greek architecture comes from the Classical, Hellenistic, and Roman periods. There were three main styles of Greek architecture during the Classical period. These are the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian.

Of the three types the most basic was the Doric style, which was used by the Spartans. The Doric style had a more formal tone and many of the most famous Greek structures were constructed in this style; an example is the Parthenon.

The Ionic style was more decorative and became popular during the Hellenistic period. The Ionic style was used more in mainland Greece, and moved from there to the Greek colonies in Italy. The Corinthian style was a more elaborate style originating from the Ionic style.

Greek architecture was used for many different types of buildings. The most common and well known of these building was the temple. Greek cities also needed a council chamber which served as a meeting place for the council and as a court house. Theatre was very important to Greek culture and every city had a theatre. These theatres’s were normally built on an incline and had tiered rows of seats around the area of performance. Greek houses have also changed depending on the architectural styles of the time.