Greek And Roman Architecture

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Greek and Roman Architecture

The Greeks thought of their Gods as having the same needs as human

beings, they believed that the Gods needed somewhere to live on Earth. Temples

were built as the gods' earthly homes. The basic design of temples developed

from the royal halls of the Maycenaean Age. A Mycenaean palace consisted of a

number of buildings often more than one story high, grouped around a central

courtyard. It was brightly painted, both inside and out. In each palace there

was a large hall called a megaron, where the king held court and conducted state

business. Little remains of the megaron at Mycenae. This reconstruction is

based on the remains from other palaces, which would have been similar.

The Romans took and borrowed a lot of things from the Greek culture.

For example, the took the Greek Gods and renamed them. They also took the

styles of Greek temples, but they changed them some. The temple was rectangular,

with a gabled roof, with a frontal staircase giving access to its high platform.

They used mainly the Corinthian style, but they also made combinations, for

instance the Corinthian-Ionic style. The Romans also added a lot of details and

decorations to their temples. The Romans also made what became the very common

round, domed temple. The main temple of a Roman city was the capitolium. The

Pantheon, the famous temple in Rome, was a sample for some of the modern day

cathedrals and churches.

The Classical Period Temples became much larger and more elaborate.

Parthenon, one of the most famous structures ever, was created during that

period. The Greeks held many religious festivals in honour of their gods. The

purpose of festivals was to please the gods and convince them to grant the

people's wishes. Such as making the crops grow or bringing victory in war. In

addition to religious events athletic competitions and theatrical performances

took place at festivals too..

The early Greek architecture, from about 3000 BC to 700 BC, used mainly

the post and lintel, or post and beam, system. Their main building material was

marble. Classic Greek architecture is made up of three different orders that

are most seen in their temples: Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. All three had

the same components, but had different types of details. The orders are known

mostly by their column style. The Corinthian order was not as widely used as

Doric and Ionic. It was fancier than the others, and had a lot more detail. The

Greeks only used one order on one building, they never mixed. The basic temple

followed these same rules.

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