Ancient Greek Architecture Module 5 done

Classical orders are architectural styles developed by the Greeks and Romans, still used today.
An architectural order describes a style of building identifiable by proportions, profiles, and aesthetic details.
The style of column indicates the order employed in the structure.
The classical orders (Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian) serve as descriptors and an index to the architectural/aesthetic development of Greek architecture.

Built during the first half of the second century B.C.E.
Monumental enclosure decorated with sculpture.
Dimensions: approximately $35.64$ by $33.4$ meters.
Relief sculpture depicts a gigantomachy (battle between Olympian gods and giants), an allegory for the military conquests of the kings of Pergamon.
Preserves basic features of the Greek altar:
- Frontal
- Approached by stairs
- Open to the air for blood sacrifice and burning of thigh bones/fat as an offering to the gods.

A public building providing access to clean drinking water.
Water jars and containers could be filled there.
Example: Southeast Fountain house in the Athenian Agora (c. 530 B.C.E.).
Fountain houses were positioned close to civic spaces like the agora.
Gathering water was typically a woman's task, providing a chance to socialize.
Fountain house scenes are common on ceramic water jars (hydriai).
Black-figured hydria (c. 525-500 B.C.E.) found in an Etruscan tomb in Vulci is an example.

Ancient Greece influenced ancient Roman architecture.
Greek architecture became the vernacular in the Hellenistic world after Alexander the Great's conquests.
Greek architectural forms endured throughout antiquity and were re-discovered in the Renaissance and Neo-Classical movement (mid-18th century onwards).
Greek architectural orders and tenets of Greek design are still prevalent in our post-modern world.

Mycenaean fortifications of Bronze Age Greece (c. 1300 B.C.E.) are known for megalithic architecture (Cyclopean).
First millennium B.C.E. Greece also shows stone-built fortification walls.
Classical and Hellenistic walls built in ashlar masonry studied in Attika as border defenses.
At Palairos in Epirus (Greece), massive fortifications enclose a high citadel.

Stadium:
- Derived from stadion, a Greek measurement equivalent to c. $578$ feet or $176$ meters.
- Location of foot races held as part of sacred games.
- Often found in sanctuaries (e.g., Olympia and Epidauros).
- Long and narrow with a horseshoe shape, located on reasonably flat terrain.
Gymnasium:
- From the Greek term gymnós meaning "naked."
- Training center for athletes participating in public games.
- Included areas for training and storage.
Palaestra (παλαíστрα):
- Exercise facility originally connected with the training of wrestlers.
- Generally rectilinear in plan, with a colonnade framing a central, open space.

Stoa (σToά) is a Greek architectural term for a covered walkway or colonnade designed for public use.
Early examples (Doric order) were single-level.
Later examples (Hellenistic and Roman) were two-story freestanding structures with interior space for shops.
Later examples often incorporated the Ionic order for interior colonnades.
Greek city planners preferred the stoa for framing the agora (public market place).
South Stoa constructed as part of the sanctuary of Hera on Samos (c. 700-550 B.C.E.) is an early example.
Athens and Corinth had elaborate stoas.
- Stoa Poikile ("Painted Stoa") in Athens (c. fifth century B.C.E.) housed paintings of Greek military exploits, including the battle of Marathon.
- Stoa Basileios ("Royal Stoa") in Athens (c. fifth century B.C.E.) was the seat of a chief civic official (archon basileios).
Stoa of Attalos in the Athenian agora (c. 159-138 B.C.E.) rebuilt and now houses the archaeological museum.

The Greek theater was a large, open-air structure used for dramatic performance.
Theaters often took advantage of hillsides and the landscape as a backdrop.
Components:
- The seating area (theatron)
- A circular space for the chorus (orchestra)
- The stage (skene)
- Side aisles (parados, pl. paradoi) provided access to the orchestra.
The Greek theater inspired the Roman version, though Romans introduced modifications.
Romans often converted pre-existing Greek theaters.
Theatrical performances were often linked to sacred festivals, so theaters are often associated with sanctuaries.