Greek Buildings
Greek buildings or architecture has been replicated over the years because of its beauty and design. Many capitol buildings around the world have large columns like those in Greek temples and other important buildings. The ancient Greek architecture was constructed of wood, stone, marble, and unbaked bricks or clay. The roofs were thatched or later replaced with tiles made from terra cotta. The early temples had wooden columns but were later replaced with Stone or marble. The common private homes were built with the bricks or wood and the Temples, churches, and other finer buildings were built of limestone and marble. The limestone and marble was very expensive because the cost of the labor to get it to its destination was expensive because it was quite a distance from the mountains to the building site. In ancient times it was not an easy task to get the huge stones moved.
The large temples and some of the other buildings had the large columns holding them up and were also ver decorative. There are three main styles of columns used. There was the Doric, the Ionic, and the Corinthian styles of columns. The Doric columns were the most simple of the three. They had a crown or top which was made of a circle with a square on top of it. The shaft of the column was plain with 20 sides to it. The Doric columns did not have a base. The Ionic column was taller than the Doric column and this made them look more slender than the Doric columns. The shaft of the Ionic column had a little bulge in it which made the column look straight. The bases of the Ionic column were large and they looked like a set of stacked rings. The crown or top of the Ionic had scrolls above the shaft. The most decorative of all of the columns was the Corinthian column. The people in modern day seem to like the Corinthian style the best. The shaft of the Corinthian column also had the little bulge in it to make the shaft look straight. The crowns or tops had flowers and leaves below a small scroll design. The shaft also had flutes. The base of the column was just like the Ionic column with the look of a stack of rings. These columns were used both inside and outside of the buildings.
Most of the Greek buildings were square or rectangular and there were five types of buildings. There was the civic, domestic, religious, funerary, and recreational buildings. Most of the information that has been found about Greek buildings has come from findings from the era of the late archaic period which was around 550 B.C. to 500 B.C., the Periclean age 450 B.C. to 430 B.C. and also the pure classical period of 430 B.C. to 400 B.C.. The only buildings that have survived over the years are the temples.
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