GREEK AND ITALIAN ARCHITECTURE

GREEKARCHITECTURE

EvolutionThe architecture of Ancient Greece is the architecture produced by the Greek-speaking

people (Hellenic people) whose culture flourished on the Greek mainland and the Peloponnese, the Aegean

Islands, and in colonies in Anatolia and Italy for a period from about 900 BC until the 1st century AD,

with the earliest remaining architectural works dating from around 600 BC.

Ancient Greek architecture is best known from its temples, many of which are found throughout the

region, mostly as ruins but many substantially intact. The second important type of building that survives

all over the Hellenic world is the open-air theatre, with the earliest dating from around 350 BC.

Other architectural forms that are still in evidence are:

• The processional gateway (propylon)

• The public square (agora)

• Storied colonnade (stoa)

• The town council building (bouleuterion)

• The public monument

• The monumental tomb (mausoleum)

• The stadium.

CULTUREThe religion of Ancient Greece was a form of nature worship that grew out of the beliefs of earlier cultures.

However, unlike earlier cultures, man was no longer perceived as being threatened by nature, but as its sublime

product. The natural elements were personified as gods of completely human form, and very human behavior.

The home of the gods was thought to be Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece. The most important deities

were:

• Zeus, the supreme god and ruler of the sky;

• Hera, his wife and goddess of marriage;

• Athena, goddess of wisdom;

• Poseidon, god of the sea;

• Demeter, goddess of the Earth;

• Apollo, god of the sun, law, reason, music and poetry;

• Artemis, goddess of the moon, the hunt and the wilderness;

• Aphrodite, goddess of love;

• Ares, God of war;

• Hermes, god of commerce and medicine,

• Hephaestus, god of fire and metalwork,

• Dionysus, god of wine and fruit-bearing plants.

• Worship, like many other activities, was done in community, in the open.

However, by 600 BC, the gods were often represented by large statues and it was necessary to provide a

building in which each of these could be housed. This led to the development of temples.

Architectural character

Column and lintel

The existent buildings of the era

are constructed in stone. It iscomposed of upright beams(posts) supporting horizontalbeams (lintels). The posts andbeams divided the walls intoregular compartments whichcould be left as openings, orfilled with sun dried bricks, lathesor straw and covered with claydaub or plaster. Many earlyhouses and temples wereconstructed with an open porchor "pronaos" above which rose alow pitched gable or pediment

Opening

Door and window openings werespanned with a lintel, which in a stonebuilding limited the possible width ofthe opening. The distance betweencolumns was similarly affected by thenature of the lintel, columns on theexterior of buildings and carrying stonelintels being closer together than thoseon the interior, which carried woodenlintels. Temples were constructedwithout windows, the light to the naosentering through the door. It has beensuggested that some temples were litfrom openings in the roof.

Masonry

Every temple rested on a masonry base calledthe crepidoma, Of which the upper one whichcarried the columns was the stylobate. Masonrywalls were employed for temples from about 600BC onwards. Masonry of all types was used forAncient Greek buildings, including rubble, but thefinest ashlar masonry was usually employed fortemple walls, in regular courses and large sizes tominimize the joints. The blocks were rough hewnand hauled from quarries to be cut and beddedvery precisely, with mortar hardly ever beingused. Blocks, particularly those of columns andparts of the building bearing loads weresometimes fixed in place or reinforced with ironclamps, dowels and rods of wood, bronze or ironfixed in lead to minimise corrosion.

Types of buildings

Besides just houses and market places, Greek cities had many different types of specialized buildings.

Temples

Temples are the most common type of public buildings in ancient Greece. The purpose of a temple was to store a religious statue.

Stoas

Stoas were a lot like temples, but were extra long, and sometimes they were even two or three stories high.

Theatres

They were built into a hillside, where the public could sit along the hills and watch the action.

Assembly Hall

An assembly hall was similar to a theatre, but was much smaller. This building was used to have important town meetings.

Gymnasia

Parts of ancient Greek gymnasia were wrestling grounds, which were open to the outside, and running tracks.

StylesAncient Greek architecture of the most formal type, for temples and other public buildings, is divided stylistically into three "orders", first described by the Roman architectural writer Vitruvius. These are: the Doric Order, the Ionic Order and the Corinthian Order, the names reflecting their regional origins within the Greek world. While the three orders are most easily recognizable by their capitals, the orders also governed the form, proportions, details and relationships of the columns, entablature, pediment and the stylobate. The different orders were applied to the whole range of buildings and monuments.

Orders:• Doric Order• Ionic Order• Corinthian Order

Doric Order

The Doric order is recognised by its capital, of which the echinus is like a circular cushion rising from the top of the column to the square abacus on which rest the lintels.Doric columns are almost always cut with grooves, known as "fluting", which run the length of the column and are usually 20 in number, although sometimes fewer. The flutes meet at sharp edges called arrises. At the top of the columns, slightly below the narrowest point, and crossing the terminating arrises, are three horizontal grooves known as the hypotrachelion. Doric columns have no bases.

Doric OrderThe Doric entablature is in three parts, the architrave, the frieze and the cornice. The architrave is composed of the stone lintels which span the space between the columns, with a joint occurring above the centreof each abacus. On this rests the frieze, one of the major areas of sculptural decoration. The frieze is divided into triglyphs and metopes, the triglyphs, as stated elsewhere in this article, are a reminder of the timber history of the architectural style. Each triglyph has three vertical grooves, similar to the columnar fluting, and below them, seemingly connected, are guttae, small strips that appear to connect the triglyphs to the architrave below. A triglyph is located above the center of each capital, and above the center of each lintel. However, at the corners of the building, the triglyphs do not fall over the center the column. The ancient architects took a pragmatic approach to the apparent "rules", simply extending the width of the last two metopes at each end of the building.

Ionic OrderThe Ionic Order is recognised by its voluted capital, in which a curved echinus of similar shape to that of the Doric Order, but decorated with stylisedornament, is surmounted by a horizontal band that scrolls under to either side, forming spirals or volutes similar to those of the nautilus shell or ram's horn. In plan, the capital is rectangular. It is designed to be viewed frontally but the capitals at the corners of buildings are modified with an additional scroll so as to appear regular on two adjoining faces. In the Hellenistic period, four-fronted Ionic capitals became common.

Ionic Order

The architrave of the Ionic Order is sometimes undecorated, but more often rises in three outwardly-stepped bands like overlappingtimber planks. The frieze, which runs in a continuous band, is separated from the other members by rows of small projecting blocks.They are referred to as dentils, meaning "teeth", but their origin is clearly in narrow wooden slats which supported the roof of atimber structure. The Ionic Order is altogether lighter in appearance than the Doric, with the columns, including base and capital,having a 9:1 ratio with the diameter, while the whole entablature was also much narrower and less heavy than the Doric entablature.There was some variation in the distribution of decoration. Formalized bands of motifs such as alternating forms known as "egg anddart" were a feature of the Ionic entablatures, along with the bands of dentils. The external frieze often contained a continuous bandof figurative sculpture or ornament, but this was not always the case. Sometimes a decorative frieze occurred around the upper partof the naos rather than on the exterior of the building. These Ionic-style friezes around the naos are sometimes found on Doricbuildings, notably the Parthenon. Some temples, like the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, had friezes of figures around the lower drumof each column, separated from the fluted section by a bold moulding.

Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

Corinthian orderThe Corinthian Order does not have its origin in wooden architecture. It grew directly out of the Ionic in the mid 5th century BC, and was initially of much the same style and proportion, but distinguished by its more ornate capitals. The capital was very much deeper than either the Doric or the Ionic capital, being shaped like a large krater, a bell-shaped mixing bowl, and being ornamented with a double row of acanthus leaves above which rose voluted tendrils, supporting the corners of the abacus, which, no longer perfectly square, splayed above them.The Corinthian Order was initially used internally, as at the Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae (c.450-425 BC). In 334 BC it appeared as an external feature on the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates in Athens, and then on a huge scale at the Temple of Zeus Olympia in Athens, (174 BC - AD 132). It was popularised by the Romans, who added a number of refinements and decorative details. During the Hellenistic period, Corinthian columns were sometimes built without fluting.

ACROPOLIS, ATHENSThe Acropolis of Athens is an ancient citadel located on a high rocky outcrop above the city of Athens and contains the remains of several ancient buildings of great architectural and historic significance, the most famous being the Parthenon. While there is evidence that the hill was inhabited as far back as the fourth millennium BC, it was Pericles (c. 495 – 429 BC) in the fifth century BC who coordinated the construction of the site's most important buildings including the Parthenon, the Propylaia, the Erechtheion and the Temple of Athena Nike.

The Acropolis is located on a flat-topped rock that rises 150 m (490 ft) above sea level in the city of Athens, with a surface area of about 3 hectares (7.4 acres). It was also known as Cecropia, after the legendary serpent-man, Cecrops, the first Athenian king. Nothing of this megaron survives except, probably, a single limestone column-base and pieces of several sandstone steps. Soon after the palace was constructed, a Cyclopean massive circuit wall was built, 760 meters long, up to 10 meters high, and ranging from 3.5 to 6 meters thick. This wall would serve as the main defense for the acropolis until the 5th century. The wall consisted of two parapets built with large stone blocks and cemented with an earth mortar called emplekton. The wall follows typical Mycenaean convention in that it followed the natural contour of the terrain and its gate was arranged obliquely, with a parapet and tower overhanging the incomers' right-hand side, thus facilitating defense. There were two lesser approaches up the hill on its north side, consisting of steep, narrow flights of steps cut in the rock. Homer is assumed to refer to this fortification when he mentions the "strong-built House of Erechtheus" . At some point before the 13th century BC, an earthquake caused a fissure near the northeastern edge of the Acropolis. This fissure extended some 35 meters to a bed of soft marl in which a well was dug. An elaborate set of stairs was built and the well served as an invaluable, protected source of drinking water during times of siege for some portion of theMycenaean period.

ACROPOLIS, ATHENSSite plan

1. Parthenon2. Old Temple of Athena3. Erechtheum4. Statue of Athena Promachos5. Propylaea6. Temple of Athena Nike7. Eleusinion8. Sanctuary of Artemis Brauronia or Brauroneion9. Chalkotheke10. Pandroseion11. Arrephorion12. Altar of Athena13. Sanctuary of Zeus Polieus14. Sanctuary of Pandion15. Odeon of Herodes Atticus16. Stoa of Eumenes17. Sanctuary of Asclepius or Asclepieion18. Theatre of Dionysus Eleuthereus19. Odeon of Pericles20. Temenos of Dionysus Eleuthereus21. Aglaureion

PARTHENON, ATHENS The Parthenon is a former temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, dedicated tothe goddess Athena, whom the people of Athens considered their patron. Construction began in447 BC when the Athenian Empire was at the peak of its power. It was completed in 438 BCalthough decoration of the building continued until 432 BC. It is the most important survivingbuilding of Classical Greece, generally considered the zenith of the Doric order. Its decorativesculptures are considered some of the high points of Greek art. The Parthenon is regarded as anenduring symbol of Ancient Greece.

The Parthenon is a peripteral octastyle Doric temple with Ionic architectural features. It standson a platform or stylobate of three steps. In common with other Greek temples, it is of post andlintel construction and is surrounded by columns ("peripteral") carrying an entablature. Thereare eight columns at either end ("octastyle") and seventeen on the sides. There is a double rowof columns at either end. The colonnade surrounds an inner masonry structure, the cella, whichis divided into two compartments. At either end of the building the gable is finished with atriangular pediment originally filled with sculpture. The columns are of the Doric order, withsimple capitals, fluted shafts and no bases. Above the architrave of the entablature is a frieze ofcarved pictorial panels (metopes), separated by formal architectural triglyphs, typical of theDoric order. Around the cella and across the lintels of the inner columns runs a continuoussculptured frieze in low relief. This element of the architecture is Ionic in style rather than Doric.

PLAN

OLD TEMPLE OF ATHENA

The temple measured 21.3 by 43.15 m. It was surrounded by a peristasis of 6 by 12 columns. The difference between column axes was 4.04m, narrowed by 0.31 m at the corners. The stylobate was slightly curved, whether this also applied to the superstructure remains unclear. Inboth the pronaos and opisthodomos, two columns stood between short antae. The cella was very short, in fact nearly square, and subdividedin three aisles by two rows of three columns each. It was followed by a pair of side-by-side rooms. The foundations were composed of variousmaterials and constructed in varying techniques. While the load-bearing parts and internal supports were made of blue Acropolis limestone,the foundations of the surrounding peristasis were of poros limestone. The superstructure and decorative pieces also appear to have beenmade from a variety of materials, including 'poros' and Parian marble.

The temple was originally dedicated to Erechtheus, the mythical god whose origins are obscured in the depths of Bronze Age, and who laterwas replaced by the god Poseidon who according to tradition violently deposed him. The temple in Archaic and early classical times wasshared equally by the worship of Athena Polias. From the older versions of the temple many of the decorative sculptures have survived andrepresent a wide time frame during which the temple was successively destroyed and rebuilt.

PROPYLAEA

A propylaea, propylea or propylaia is any monumental gateway based on the original Propylaea that serves as the entrance to the Acropolis in Athens. The Propylaea was built under the general direction of the Athenian leader Pericles. The Propylaea was constructed of white Pentelic marble and gray Eleusinian marble or limestone, which was used only for accents. Structural iron was also used.alyzed the structure and concluded that the iron weakened the building. The structure consists of a central building with two adjoining wings on the west (outer) side, one to the north and one to the south.The core is the central building, which presents a standard six-columned Doric façade both on the West to those entering the Acropolis and on the east to those departing. The columns echo the proportions (not the size) of the columns of the Parthenon. There is no surviving evidence for sculpture in the pediments.The central building contains the gate wall, about two-thirds of the way through it. There are five gates in the wall, one for the central passageway, which was not paved and lay along the natural level of the ground, and two on either side at the level of the building's eastern porch, five steps up from the level of the western porch. The central passageway was the culmination of the Sacred Way, which led to the Acropolis from Eleusis.

THE SANCTUARY ARTHEMIS BRAURONIA The Brauroneion was the sanctuary of Artemis Brauronia on the Athenian

Acropolis, located in the southwest corner of the Acropolis plateau, between the Chalkotheke and the Propylaia in Greece. It was originally dedicated during the reign of Peisistratos. Artemis Brauronia, protector of women in pregnancy and childbirth, had her main sanctuary at Brauron, a demos on the east coast of Attica.The sanctuary on the Acropolis was of an unusual trapezoidal shape and did not contain a formal temple. Instead, a portico or stoa served that function. The stoa measured circa 38 by 6.8 m; it stood in front of the southern Acropolis wall, facing north. At its corners, there were two risalit-like side wings, each about 9.3 m long, the western one facing east and vice versa. North of the east wing stood a further short west-facing stoa. All of the sanctuary's western part, now lost, stood on the remains of the Mycenaean fortification wall. All that remains of the eastern pare are foundations for walls, cut into the bedrock, as well as some very few architectural members of limestone.One of the wings contained the wooden cult statue (xoanon) of the goddess. Women who petitioned Artemis for help habitually dedicated items of clothing, which were draped around the statue. In 346 BC, a second cult statue was erected. According to Pausanias, it was a work by Praxiteles.The entrance to the small sacred precinct, near its northeast corner, is still marked by seven rock-cut steps. They, and its northern enclosure, were probably created by Mnesicles during the building of the Propylaia. The date of the complex in its final shape is unclear, but a date around 430 BC,

ITALIAN ROMANESQUE ARCHITECTURE

ITALIAN ROMANESQUE

In between the Byzantine period and the Gothic period was the Romanesque movement, which went from approximately 800 AD to 1100 AD. This was one of the most fruitful and creative periods in Italian architecture, with several masterpieces, such as the Leaning Tower of Pisa in the Piazza dei Miracoli, and the Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio in Milan were built. It was called "Roman"-esque because of its usage of the Roman arches, stained glass windows, and also its curved columns which commonly featured in cloisters.Romanesque architecture varied greatly in Italy in both style and construction. Arguably the most artistic was Tuscan, notably Florentine and Pisan Romanesque architecture, yet that of Sicily, influenced by the Norman settlers, was considerable too. Lombard Romanesque was certainly more structurally progressive than the Tuscan but less artistic.Romanesque architecture in Italy halted the construction of wooden roofs in churches, and also experimented with the usage of the groined vault or barrels. The buildings' weight tended to buckle on the outside, and there used to be buttresses to support the buildings. Church walls using the Romanesque tended to be bulky and heavy to support the roof, however this meant that Romanesque church interiors in Italy tended to be far more banal and bland than those of the Early Christian and Byzantine periods. They used to simply consist of marble or stone, and had little decoration, unlike the rich mosaics found in Italian Byzantine architectural works.

CENTRAL ITALY

ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER.

New ideas rarely found. The principal aim is perfectionstructive boldness not sought after, in the construction of vaulting,less departure being made from which influenced the whole design

the ancient Basilican type. The as in Normandy and the RhineItalians have always possessed a provinces, where vaulting was now

greater capacity for beauty in being developed. Such treatmentdetail, than for developing a bold caused the introduction of many

and novel construction into a new constructive ideas.complete style.

The Byzantine influence was strong, especially in severaldistricts, as Venice, Ravenna, and Pisa, which latter city in

particular possesses a distinct style of its own.

PISA CATHEDRALThe first stone of Pisa Cathedral was laid in 1093, initiating whatwould become the distinctive Pisan Romanesque style. The mainarchitect was Buscheto, who is buried in the last blind arch on theleft side of the facade. The facade itself was built by Buscheto'ssuccessor, Rainaldo.

The fine marble facade of cathedral is in the "Pisan Romanesque"style that can also be seen in Lucca and other Tuscan cities. Thebottom section has tall blind arcades with pastel-colored marbleinlay and three portals with bronze doors. Above this are four rowsof open arcades with delicate columns and Moorish-inspired arches,rising to the top of a gable that is much taller than the cathedralroof.

In summer, entrance is sometimes via the main door, which is one ofthree cast by students of Giambologna after the 1595 fire destroyedthe originals. The usual entrance to the Duomo is in the southtransept near the Leaning Tower, which is home to the originalbronze Door of San Ranieri, cast by Bonnano Pisano in 1180 whilehe was working on the tower.

PISA CATHEDRAL

The spacious nave has a Cosmatesque marble pavement and two aisles on each side; the transept crossing is covered by a painted oval dome. Due to the 1595 fire, the interior is mostly decorated with Renaissance art, but there are also some fine medieval survivals. One of these is the Tomb of Emperor Henry VII by Tino di Camaino (1315; with a pair of angels by Ghirlandaio) in the south transept. The Ghibelline Pisansenthusiastically supported Henry VII's ascension to the post of Holy Roman Emperor.

SOUTHERN ITALY

The change from the Byzantine to the Mahometan dominion, and from the latter to the Nvrman in the eleventh century is traceable. Byzantine influence is shown in

the plans of certain churches, as in the Church of the Martorana at Palermo, where a square space is covered by a dome supported on Four freestanding columns.

Mahometan influence is evident, particularly in the decorative parts of churches, as mentioned above.

Architecture developed considerably under the Norman rule by the erection of cathedrals, and a school of mosaic was maintained in the Royal Palace during this

period.

The churches have either wooden roofs, or a Byzantine dome, but are hardly ever vaulted. Dark and light stone was used in courses externally, and rich mosaics and

colored marbles were employed as a facing internally. The architectural features of the interiors, of which Monreale Cathedral has typical examples, were subordinate

to the mosaic decorations which clothe the walls.

MONREALE CATHEDRAL

Monreale Cathedral was built from 1174 to 1185. It was commissioned by William II (1154-89), the Norman ruler of Sicily, who wished to demonstrate the magnificence of his kingdom and outdo the splendid Palatine Chapel built by his grandfather, Roger II. The project employed both Sicilian and Byzantine craftsmen, resulting in a magnificent fusion of eastern and western influences.

MONREALE CATHEDRALThe church's plan is a mixture of Eastern Rite and RomanCatholic arrangement. The nave is like an Italian basilica, while the largetriple-apsed choir is like one of the early three-apsed churches.

The basilican nave is wide, with narrow aisles. Monolithic columns of greyoriental granite on each side support eight pointed arches much stilted. Thecapitals of these (mainly Corinthian) are also of the classical period. Thereis no triforium, but a high clerestory with wide two-light windows, withsimple tracery like those in the nave-aisles and throughout the church,which give sufficient light.

The other half, Eastern in two senses, is both wider and higher than thenave. It also is divided into a central space with two aisles, each of thedivisions ending at the east with an apse. The roofs throughout are of openwoodwork very low in pitch, constructionally plain, but richly decoratedwith color, now mostly restored. At the west end of the nave are twoprojecting towers, with a narthex (entrance) between them.

It is, however, the large extent (6,500 m2) of the impressiveglass mosaics covering the interior which make this church so splendid.With the exception of a high dado, made of marble slabs with bands ofmosaic between them, the whole interior surface of the walls, includingsoffits and jambs of all the arches, is covered with minute mosaic-picturesin bright colors on a gold ground. The mosaic pictures are arranged in tiers,divided by horizontal and vertical bands. In parts of the choir there are fiveof these tiers of subjects or single figures one above another.

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