Implants Denise Milani

Greek architecture .- Greek
The main buildings are:

THE TEMPLE:
The king of Greek architecture is conceived as the temple abode of the gods, its interior was reserved to house the statue of the patron deity and which only allowed access to the priests. Greek temples did not fulfill the duties of a church as a meeting place of the faithful in prayer, for it was built to be admired only from outside.
Indeed, the role of the Greek temple was usually host the hieratic and impressive image of the god in whose honor was built, the priests and priestesses were responsible for performing the rites sacred as the men gathered outside before the porch.

The Greek temple was created as rudimentary wooden and adobe buildings erected in the woods. Ancient myths refer to shrines built outdoors. Apollonius of Rhodes wrote that "... Argonauts stopped at an island where prepared (for Apollo) in a shady forest, a splendid venue and an altar built of stacked stones ..." ("Greece from Mycenae to the Parthenon, Henri Stierlin , edt. Taschen.pag 40).
In this regard, we note that many trees were attributed to the gods: Athena was identified with the olive the laurel Apollo, Zeus with oak Dionysus with grapes ... the wooden temples were built to honor the god for sites populated by trees.
Later, during the Archaic period the temple was petrified, resulting in a strictly mathematical technique that spans from Asia Minor to the Magna Grecia in southern Italy. Thus, the old wooden buildings are ennobled with marble and the room indented or "cell" is surrounded on one side and later on all sides by "Peristyle" a series of columns forming a portico around the sanctuary. This colonnade surrounding one of its most distinctive features of the Greek temple and the sacred world communicates of the cella to the outside world of nature.
It is obvious the association between the temple and sacred grove. The peristyle or portico períptero represents the forest and has its origin in the free worship the gods and the aforementioned primitive wooden constructions. Varro, described the inauguration of a shrine stressing that "... the temple is a limited space with trees ..." ("Greece from Mycenae to the Parthenon, Henri Stierlin, edt. Taschen.pag. 41). Consequently, for the Greek temple was nothing more than a sanctuary surrounded by sacred trees.
From the above, it is easy to conclude that the colonnade is the recollection periptera or evocation of the sacred grove. "... The exterior colonnade or portico recalls surrounding vegetation, whose stems and trunks sprout from the ground to form, under sunlight, a place of convergence among men and divinities, a loop between earth and sky. The peristyle of the temple embodies, therefore, the sacred forest, the memory saved sanctuaries across the mutation that represents the stage of "petrified" of the structures built when the temple is built entirely on hard, first in blocks of tufa and then crystal surfaces marble ... "(" Greece from Mycenae to the Parthenon, Henri Stierlin, edt. Taschen.pag. 41 and 42)

Greek temple features .-

1.-Materials: early architecture was made of wood and mud or clay, which no remains are preserved. Subsequently incorporate other materials such as stone and marble with which they were created magnificent temples. The roofs were covered with wood and tiles.

lintel 2 .- Architecture: It uses a structure called horizontal lintel or architrave to cover the space between two pillars or columns.

In the history of architecture, three elements structural factors that have given rise to three types of buildings. The first and most basic is the threshold, giving rise to the lintel and lintel architecture used for example in dolmens, Egypt and Greece, the second is the arc that made the vaulted architecture and the third discovery was the use of steel and concrete of modern varieties with which it forms an internal skeleton that allows buildings to have the most different and daring ways. The Greeks, as noted above lintel architecture adopted for the construction of their temples, however know a sort of vault (Mauselo of Atreus).

3 .- Column: The basic element of Greek architecture and grace is the column as to its characteristics we can distinguish three styles: Doric, Ionic and Corinthian, which will be explained later.
"... Everything Greek monument is based on the column. Of force or rely upon this slender proportions of the church. The ratio between the diameter and height of the column, called by the Greeks ratio module, forms the building. With his concern for clarity and unity, the Greeks fell to three architectural expressions: nobility, grace and luxury, correspuestas by three orders: Doric, Ionic and Corinthian ... " ("History of Art." Germain Bazin. Edic. Omega, pág.74)

The column is composed of three elements: based, shaft and capital.
The based is the foot or bottom of the column which supports the shaft.
The shaft is the main body of the column. The Greeks built by attaching cylindrical sections one above the other, protruding central part in order that the visual perspective does not seem disproportionate to perform them, also their thickness was decreasing from the bottom up.
The capital, derived from the Greek word meaning head hood and is at the top of the column, serves to support the horizontal entablature, although their forms are very different, they usually have three parts: the collar piece that joins the shaft, a drum or main body usually ornate and an abacus, upper part which supports the lintel.


4 .- peristyle or colonnade periptera: is a series of columns surrounding the cella or room which houses the divine image, forming a portico that runs along the entire temple, and as explained above, evokes the sacred forest, petrified at the prospect of permanence. The gates are the entrance that connects nature with the divine world. Arguably, the peristyle is the main contribution of the Greeks to the architecture.
not be confused with the Roman peristyle courtyard house surrounded by columns and adorned with fountains.

Temples of Paestum, a city of so-called Magna Grecia in southern Italy, dedicated to the gods Poseidon (front) and Hera (back). They are very well preserved, because they suffered from the onslaught of the Persian invasions and Greece. Note the number of columns that make up the two colonnades and whose function is to support the architrave. Archaic Period, Doric.

ornamental sculpture .- 5 .- The Greek temples were decorated with reliefs of the pediments and friezes, which not only meet aesthetic work, but also had a philosophical function.
The study of ornamental sculpture of the temples reveals the beliefs of the Greeks and indicates that there is a universe in which man is surrounded by gods and monsters.
Thus the struggle against the Lapita centaurs, the struggle of giants, the labors of Hercules, the fight against the Amazons deal with the eternal confrontation between good and evil, of civilization against barbarism, of reason against the irrational. The temple is then to represent the balance between these two forces. Recreation
pediment and the metopes of the Parthenon sculpted and painted.

6 .- Architecture .- polychrome While it is true that today we are seduced by the white marble of Greek temples, glittering in the sunlight, at the time were enriched by chromatic effects.
Archaeologists and historians from the studies presented in 1762 which concluded that the Greek temples were multicolored. Are now fully demonstrated that Greek architecture was not a product of pale marble art, but it offered rich nuances and eg triglyphs and metopes funds could be a blue and red capitals and architraves. The temple and the reliefs were covered with a thin layer of plaster on which the colors were applied.

7 .- .- Aesthetics Symmetria The aesthetics of Greek buildings was closely related to the value that Pythagoras gave the numbers. ".. The number is the beginning of all things. It represents the eternal nature of reality. The number pre-exist in the spirit of God and the divine number is at the origin of rhythm and harmony, which depends on the relationship between proportions. The numbers are that give the work its beauty and perfection ... "(" Greece. From Mycenae to the Parthenon. "Henri Stierlin. Edt.Taschen, p. 61)
This conception of number, proportion is what the Greeks called" Symmetria " understood as a system of proportions that tends to balance and harmony of the building. This law applies not only result in the architecture, but music rules the entire universe. From there the squadron, inspired by the mathematician Pythagoras, is the tool of architects.
"... By combining the relative dimensions (height, width, thickness) of the various elements, that is the support (column) the interval (between the columns) and the sustained surface (the entablature), could achieve, according to his genius, the effects of rhythm and harmony that are the architecture itself, conceived by the Greeks as the science of numbers ... "(" History Art. "Germain Bazin. Edic. Omega, pág.74)

ELEMENTS OF A GREEK TEMPLE .-

The temple is built on a rectangular or basement platabanda low-rise consists of three steps, the last one is called stylobate. About this stylobate rises the ships - a enclosure which will use the figure of the god, and the portico formed by a series of columns that form the peristyle and completely surrounding the temple.

columns can have different forms according to the three Greek orders (Doric, Ionian and Corinthian). They are the support of lintel or header, a horizontal piece that connects them to each other. In some cases the front column heights can be replaced by women, or Caryatids.

rests on the columns entablature entablature This in turn is composed of three parts: architrave, frieze and cornice.

The architrave, as noted is the lintel or horizontal piece that connects two columns, then comes the frieze that has different aspects according to the architectural order having the building and finally cornice moldings composed of several or projections that serve as ornaments, on which rests the triangular pediment.
For the three angles of a triangular pediment ornaments are raised very differently sculpture called acroteria . Lastly
temple is covered with a gabled roof and drains are shaped gargoyle or animal heads whose mouths came the water.

.- The Tholos
Greek temples were usually rectangular, except for a circular tholos surrounded by a colonnade.

The Tholos at Delphi. This circular building was constructed between AD 380 and 360 BC It has 20 Doric columns arranged in a circle outside diameter 14.76 meters, with 10 Corinthian columns inside. Three of the Doric columns were restored, improving the aesthetics of the monument, making it the most iconic and photographed temple of Delphi.

Theatre .-

was a civilian building for the celebration of performances and dramatic performances, every Greek city had an outdoor theater built on a hill on which the stands were cut in a semicircular shape, so that the natural inclination of the terrain would allow viewers the full picture of the stage. The theaters were built with a simplicity and economy and had remarkable elements of three parts: the bleachers for spectators, circular orchestra for the choir and a scene before a wall decorated architecturally. These buildings were dedicated to the god Dionysus. Examples: the theater of Dionysus at the Acropolis, the Theatre of Epidaurus, the theater of Herod ...

Greek Theatre Epidaurus. (IV century BC) built by Polykleitos, the young, for Asclepeia holiday celebration in honor of the god Asclepius or Aesculapius, the god of medicine. Tests were performed gymnastics, theater and music concerts. It consists of a 20-meter circular orchestra diameter, a semicircular tiers carved into the slope of the land, suitable to receive 14,000 spectators and a building or scene in ruin. The sound is extraordinary and you hear the voice actors from the last step. Had two types of steps, some with backs and arms for other personalities and simple for the people. Are currently giving performances. The city of Epidaurus became the largest treatment center of antiquity.

The Odeon: were buildings for the holding of musical concerts and competitions including singing and poetry. They differ from the temples that were partially or fully roofed and its smaller dimensions.

Odeon of Herodes Aticus Hellenic Period .- .- Built on the Acropolis of Athens by the Roman consul Herodes Aticus in the year 161, in honor of his wife. It had capacity for 5,000 spectators and is currently remodeling and present musical and other measures as the Miss Universe 1973.

Agora .- Among the buildings major public utility is the agora or public square, an open space used for social gatherings, meetings, markets and even was used by teachers to teach their disciples, was usually surrounded by the most important buildings of the city. The agora is an urban invention of the Greeks and has its equivalent in the Roman Forum.
"... The Agora was the center of the commercial, political, religious, social administration and Athens and was the place where the Athenians gathered to exchange ideas and goods, learn, discuss, criticize the government or simply to talk . In short, the Athenian agora was the place where democracy was conceived the first History. In the Agora were administrative buildings, temples, public utilities, courts, theaters, schools, libraries and portals ("stoas') ..."
( www.guiadegrecia.com/images/agora-5.jpg )

The bouleterion or Council of Five Hundred was the real administrative or governing body of Athenian democracy. Worked in the council chamber, court and other public offices. Unfortunately not retain any of these buildings.
At first the Boule was composed of 400 advisers at the time increased Cleisthenes to 500. They were chosen annually by lot from among citizens over 30 years and received a salary of five coins or mites. The Greeks also built
stages for the celebration of sports, the oldest is in Olympia in the Peleponeso, there were the first Olympic Games in 776 BC The stadium had about 200 meters long. Gyms and indoor lectures perimeter and without covers that served as a sports center, cultural and social. Over time, the sports concept of the arena, where they fought and box was extended and its headquarters is also carried on philosophical discussions. Racecourses, where they held horse racing and other buildings as bridges, fountains, etc. .

Ikusa Otome Valkryie 2

Greek architecture Greek architecture Greek architecture

GREEK ORDERS .-

In the Archaic period (seventh century to V century BC) starts the grandeur of Greek art; ancient temples and shrines of adobe and wood result in temples of stone and construction is subject to artistic laws which derive the so-called orders, ie different artistic decisions to the same problem: hold the sleeve by columns.
The word "order" used to designate these architectural styles reflects the importance which the Greeks gave the number, ie the proportion, each temple is due to a system of measures or canon. The three architectural orders are: Doric, Ionian and Corinthian, which contributed nobility, grace and luxury respectively.

Outline of the Doric, Ionic and Corinthian respectively. The first two coexisted and reached its peak in the classical age The third is typical of the Hellenistic period. -

The Doric .-

found in the seventh century Doric temples, as Heraion or Temple of Hera, but not is not until the following century when the style develops fully. This is the order
more sober and simple and was used in mainland Greece where transition to the Greek colonies of Italy. Examples of this order are the temple of Apollo at Corinth (540 BC), the plague in the south of Italy dedicated to Hera and Poseidon (sixth century BC) and the Acropolis of Athens the Parthenon (447 BC) built by Ictinus and Kalícrates and decorated by Phidias.


The Doric column has no base but is placed directly on the stylobate and is fluted, is decorated with vertical edges, the number of 16 to 20. The column diameter decreases from bottom to top, but with a slight bend in the middle, which is called the rapture, an architectural resource that corrects optical defects distorting, because if we saw from afar the column, it seems narrower in its central part, but the bulge with the rapture eliminates this visual impression.
The Doric capitals, of great simplicity, is formed by a necking, a circular piece curved edge that supports the horse - like a dish, which in turn supports a square piece of low-rise called abacus. The simple trim Doric capital expressed with nobility and strength of support architectural function.
In the Doric entablature, the architrave is smooth and he is a frieze and metopes triglyphs divided into alternating throughout the building. Triglyphs consist of three vertical stripes which function to separate the metopes, squares of stone or marble, intricately decorated with polychrome. This alternativity between triglyphs and metopes will give rhythm to the building. On the cornice
supports the triangular pediment, covered with marble and adorned also with polychrome reliefs.

Temple of Hera or the Basilica. (approx. 540 BC) Built in Paestum, south of Naples in the so-called Magna Grecia. Doric temple. The facade is characterized by an uneven number (9) of its columns. He has lost the pediment and architrave remains only a series of blocks that were previously topped with metopes and triglyphs.

.- The Parthenon (447 to 432 BC) (73 x 34 meters). The most perfect of Greek temples was dedicated to the goddess Athena and represents the right balance between strength and nobility of the Doric temples, and fragile grace of the Ionians. Ictinus made by architects and Phidias supervised Calícrates and who also made the reliefs of the pediment, the metopes and the frieze inside the cella. Also made in gold and ivory sculpture is 12 meters high of Pallas Athena, which was kept inside.

the Ionian .-

The Ionic was born in Asia Minor and the oldest monuments discovered so n after the Dorians, though both styles co-existed in Greece and are subsequently inherited by the Romans.
This style was elegant and refined so that was associated with feminine grace and delicacy, which is why it used to be dedicated to the goddesses. It was the favorite in the Hellenistic period to be more decorative than the Doric and appropriate to the aesthetic of the moment.
In the example we Ionic temple of Artemis at Ephesus and the treasure of the Sifnis at Delphi. On the Acropolis of Athens built the temple of Athena Nike (427 BC) and the Erechtheion, a temple triple whose central columns are replaced by statues of women, very personal appeal of this order and receive the name of Caryatids.

Ionic columns are more slender the Doric and unlike them, do not rise directly over the stylobate, but have a base, which helps to give greater height. The trunk is also striated but with a larger number of grooves, 24 in this case. Are also decreasing in thickness from bottom to top.
The capital is made up of two scrolls or spirals placed on a pad to overflowing on both sides.
The architrave is not smooth but consists of three horizontal stripes, each more outgoing than before. The frieze is not divided into triglyphs and metopes but is a continuous strip decorated with polychrome reliefs.

Temple Athena Nike, or Victorious Athena Kalicrates .- .- the edge of the abyss, like the prow of a ship, the small temple of Nike held a key point in the layout of the Acropolis. Note the columns with volutes and continuous frieze decoration characteristic of Ionic .-

Temple of Athena in Priene, Ionia, Asia Minor (now Turkey) .- Work of Pythian, author of Mausoleum of Halicarnassus. Only five remain standing Ionic columns, with their scrolls, which allow an imperfect appreciation of the construction

The Erechtheion .- Mnesicles (approx. 421 to 406 BC) Ionic Order. Temple complex dedicated to the Greek Acropolis multiple services. Dedicated to the gods Athena and Poseidon Erechtheus and hero. Has been used as a church for Christians and the Ottoman harem has four very different fronts, north lobby showing an elegant Ionic columns on the south the famous porch of the Maidens, famous women shaped columns on the east chapel Athena and the west one species of windows.


Pergamon Altar of Zeus at .- Ionic Order. (197-159 BC) - Work of the Hellenic era .- The temple was built during the reign of Eumenes II in the city of Pergamum. In 1886 he was transported, moved and rebuilt in the city of Berlin, thanks to a financial settlement with the Turkish government, which received 20,000 marks in return. The building rises broadly on a podium decorated with monumental reliefs of 2.30 x 113 meters, which deal with the Gigantomachy and the struggle of the Olympian gods against the giants. At the end of World War II, the altar was moved to Moscow, as spoils of war, where he remained until 1959. He is currently in Berlin at the Pergamon Museum.

THE CORINTHIAN .-

This style, much more ornate than the previous ones or refilled appears from the V century BC . and will differ only in the capital of the Ionian.
In fact, the Corinthian capital is inverted bell-shaped and is decorated with acanthus leaves, alternating with long, short of which hatch into little spirals that will serve to support the abacus.

be attributed to the sculptor Kalimac the invention of the Corinthian capital. Within this style stands the temple of Zeus in Athens (174 BC) and Lisícrates lantern in Athens, a memorial commissioned by the poet Lisícrates to present the trophy won in the contest theater.







Temple of Zeus in Athens .- Also known as Olimpeion. It was built in V century BC by the tyrant Pisistratus, after his death was abandoned. During the Macedonian domination, the Roman architect Cossutius continued with its construction. In times of Roman rule, the general Sulla took two of his columns to adorn the Roman Temple of Jupiter Capitoline. Finally the emperor Hadrian, a great admirer of Greek culture ordered its completion in the second century. It is the largest Greek temple, was 96 x 40 meters and 104 columns Corinthian, each 17 meters high, which are only 15 feet.

Lísicrates .- The lantern ( 334 BC) (6 x 2.8 meters) .- M Hellenistic Period onumento memorial erected in Athens at the time of Alexander the Great as a tribute to the winner of a contest theater. On a square base architecture is a monument of six Corinthian columns above shows a basket of acanthus leaves on which rested the prize, now disappeared. The frieze was decorated with reliefs of the god Dionysus.

Gays Cruising Spots In Michigan

THE ACROPOLIS OF ATHENS .-

The upper town met Acropolis dual function, the first of a defensive nature and the s econd as sacred rock in which were concentrated the main religious buildings.
In 450 BC Pericles ordered the reconstruction of Athens, after having been looted during the wars Medical Phidias accordingly instructed the artistic direction of the program to restore the temples of the Acropolis and diverted the funds of the Delian League for the protection of Athens and the islands to carry out these works.
Plutarch tells of a political confrontation between Pericles and Thucydides which calls for the misappropriation of money.
"... For this reason Pericles asked the assembled people if he thought he had spent too much, and her statement that it was too much and said: " Well therefore not spent at the expense of yours, but mine and I will make the inscriptions of dedication in my own name " When Pericles had said that, it was because they admired his Magnimar or because they competed in their drive for the glory of their works in a loud voice shouted, and ordered the funds freely available public for their expenditures and spared no expense. And finally he ventured Thucydides to submit to the test of ostracism, which won the banishment of his rival and the dissolution of the faction that had formed against him ... "(The frieze of the Parthenon," Ian Jenkins. Edt. Electa, pág14).
While Pericles was saved from prosecution, not as lucky its artistic director. After the death of the statesman, Pheidias was prosecuted and jailed for embezzlement and violation in carving the face of his shield in the shield of Athena.
The Acropolis of Athens located in a limestone plateau 156 meters above sea level is 270 meters long and 85 wide, it was erected on the most famous monuments of Greece classic and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.
The buildings were kept in fairly good condition until the seventeenth century, were bombarded by the Venetians in their struggle against the Ottomans.

The entrance to the Acropolis is done by about five monumental gates calls "Propylaea" Mnesicles built by the architect in a fully rugged terrain. Are fully incorporated in the sacred wall of protection (Pelárgikon), so doors were not only met but symbolically great defensive functions.
The Propylaea included a building wide central hall with five doors and two wings, one of which housed an art gallery and the second was never finished because the construction work was interrupted by the Peloponnesian War. Doric styles are combined in the columns of the facade and Ionic on the inside.
The history of the Propylaea, like all buildings of the Acropolis has been hectic, it was the episcopal palace, palace armory Italian and Turkish. The structure was demolished in the seventeenth century to exploit the magazine.

Mnesicles The Propylaea .- 5 .- monumental marble door gave access to the Acropolis. It combined Doric and Ionic styles. In one of its wings was the first art gallery located in the world which outlined the work of Polygnotus Greek painter, known by the descriptions given by historians of the period.

Next to the staircase access Propylaea is the famous Temple of Athena Nike or Athena victorious. This temple was erected to commemorate the naval battle of Salamis, in which the Greeks defeated the Persians during World War II medical.
The Temple of Athena Nike was built in marble, in the year 427 BC by the architect Kalicrates in Ionic and housed inside a winged image the goddess, which cut off his wings so that he could never abandon the city.
Each facade has 4 elegant Ionic columns, which are raised on a stepped platform, plus two other columns are the effect of the tiny portal cella. A fully sculpted frieze tells the struggle of the Greeks against the Persians and it highlights a magnificent relief of the goddess Athena tying his sandal. The temple has no pronaos. Its small size 5 meters by 5 meters makes it stand out among all the great temples of the Acropolis.

Temple of Athena Nike. (approx. 427 BC) Kalícrates. (5 x 5 m and 8 m. tall.) Jewel of the Ionian architecture, its facade is made up of four graceful columns and has a continuous sculpted frieze around the building gives alluding to medical wars.

tying Athena sandal .- Her transparent dress is the technique of wet garments invented by Phidias, which causes a cascade of pleats highlight the female form of the goddess. It has been attributed to the sculptor Callimachus, creator of the Corinthian capital. Originally it was in the temple of Athena Nike on the Acropolis.

Once doors flanked Propylaea was in central statue of 9 meters high Promak Athena, patron goddess of the city in bronze by Phidias, which has not been preserved, on both sides of this sculpture was erected the Parthenon and the Erechtheion.

Acropolis of Athens. Aerial . First observed the Propylaea, monumental gates through which they accessed. In one of its sides is the small and beautiful temple of Athena Nike. Behind is the Parthenon, the most perfect of Greek temples and the Erechtheion with its famous caryatids. Also see part of the defensive walls Pelárgikon calls. In the center of the Acropolis was a bronze statue of the goddess Athena by Phidias, now defunct.


The Erechtheion was built in the years 421 to 406 BC, the Greek temple complex so strongly contrasted with the sobriety of the Parthenon.
The temple is dedicated to various gods and heroes, and was home to various cults or rites. This multiplicity of functions answered the many spaces in the building.
Its plant is disconcerting on two levels and possibly is associated with the myth about the competition held between the gods Athena and Poseidon to be recognized as the protectors of the city. Poseidon flow a fountain of salt water with his trident, Athena turn germinated an olive tree, which is why the city was dedicated. The Greeks considered the Acropolis and the site of the annual competition celebrating the cult of the olive.
has four completely different fronts: to the east is a cover with six Ionic columns, which leads into a rectangular sanctuary or cella, which was the cult statue of Athena. At the bottom of the cella or naos other cella was divided into two spaces dedicated to Hephaestus and twins Butes respectively. Here on the west side was another rectangular sanctuary dedicated to Erechtheus, Greek hero, founder of the city of Athens. The facade south leading into the sanctuary of the god Poseidon and finally in the north facade front porch appears moving towards the cliff, known as the porch of the Caryatids, where the columns are replaced by six statues of women, in the pure ionic .
The Erechtheion is a composition of "baroque" in which he combines the elegance of the Ionic columns, the columns or Cariátides female figures and an intricate and asymmetric plant with several shrines.

The Erechtheion .- (421 to 406 BC) Ionian style. Hero is named after Erechtheus, founder and king of the city Athens and Poseidon who have preferred to sacrifice for the goddess Athena as protectress of the city. Butes his twin brother was the priest of the goddess, which is why both were given death worship in the temple. The myth tells that Erechtheus was very close three daughters, who had sworn that dead one, the other two would continue to stay together forever. Once the contest between Poseidon and Athena to achieve the city, the angry sea god sent his son Eumolpus to conquer the city. The oracle was consulted and he predicted that the city would be spared only if they sacrificed a daughter of Erechtheus. This was done and the other two doing their oath committed suicide. Erechtheus beat Eumolpus in the battle but he was assassinated by angry Poseidon with his trident.

The Erechtheion. Porch of the Caryatids .- inaccessible from the inside, is named after the six statues of girls or Kores, which serve as columns. Currently the original columns were removed and their copies are exhibited. Five of the Caryatids are in the Acropolis Museum and the sixth in the British Museum.


Caryatid .- The caryatids are sculptures shaped women, whose role was to provide support or column. Currently none of the caryatids originals are in the Erechtheum have all been moved to museums and copies have their place. The name comes from the city of Caria, destroyed during the Wars of Medicine, the women were turned into slaves, and sentenced to a punishment heavier tasks. In these sculptures, the Greeks remain the punishment for all eternity.

The main building of the Acropolis is the Parthenon , was built by architects and Kalícrates Ictinos decorated and supervised by Phidias .
Around 450 BC Pericles, the most famous Greek statesman initiated program of reconstruction and beautification of the city in such a way that reflected the hegemonic position of Athens among the other Greek states. The Parthenon was the crowning achievement of that building program, designed to house chryselephantine the colossal sculpture of the goddess Athena Parthenos (Athena Virgin), a cult statue of 12 meters by Phidias in gold and ivory, now defunct, known through Roman copies and historical reviews. The temple commemorating the Greek victory over the Persians and proclaims the greatness of the polis.
architects all meticulously calculated to produce in the viewer an image of perfection. It was built in marble embossed with a polychrome living in the highlands.
is in the Parthenon where the numbers and proportions of symmetry, harmony and rhythm reaches its peak. All dimensions-length, width, height, proportions of the ships, diameter and height of the columns, etc. - point to a proportional system that links the microcosm of the temple with the macrocosm of the universe.



The Parthenon. Ictinus and Kalicrates Architects. Sculptor Phidias. Classical period. Doric order. Temple to the goddess Athena Parthenos (Athena the Virgin). Built in marble between 447 and 432 BC The pediments, the metopes and the frieze inside the cella made by Phidias were decorated with polychrome reliefs. As for the drums, one was decorated with the supposed competition between Athena and Poseidon for the patronage of the city, the other with the myth of the birth of the goddess, born from Zeus's head. The 92 metopes containing scenes from the Lapita war with the Centaurs, the struggle of giants, war of the Amazons and the Trojan War, these wars, except the last one to mean the struggle of civilization against barbarism and an allegorical way represent the triumph of the Greeks against the Persians. The frieze of the cella, a true work of art was decorated by the Panathenaic procession, religious festivals dedicated to the goddess Athena.

The Parthenon is a Doric temple whose fluted columns forming a portico períptero that surrounds the building. This gate consists of 8 x 17 Doric columns in the stylobate descasar directly, without any bases. These columns are a bit bulky in the center (rapture) in order to correct the optical defect that occurs when you look at the temple from afar. Also has 6 interior columns in each of the facades, which give access to the cells or chambers. Just above the heads of the pillars rests the entablature, divided in three parts: a bottom-up a plain architrave, a composed of metopes and frieze and a cornice triglyphs outgoing. It had two rooms, small room called the Virgin adorned with 4 Ionic columns and 24 columns main cella, which was the legendary statue of Athena Parthenos, Athena the virgin, thanks to which we owe the name of the temple . Finally, it was covered by a tiled roof gable.
with relief decoration of both eardrums triangular pediments and the metopes and frieze 92 internal 160 meters turn gave were made in the workshop of Phidias and later polychrome. Also the aforementioned statue of the goddess Athena was made by the great sculptor.

The Parthenon. Plano. has a rectangular of 69.5 x 31 meters. Stresses its portico períptero of 8 x 17 Doric columns. On the short sides there are other finer 6 Doric columns and trim. On the west facade gave way to the Hall of the Virgin, adorned with 4 Ionic columns. On the east facade gave way to the main cella divided into three aisles formed by Doric colonnades in the cella was a statue of the goddess Athena chryselephantine 12 m high by Phidias, which is known through Roman copies and testimonies of the time.

As for the decoration of the eardrums triangular pediments, we need on the west side the relief was alluding to the patronage of the city, where the gods Athena and Poseidon competing for primacy over the territory, the first puts forth an olive tree and the second a source of salt water and a horse , Athena declaring the winner. The east pediment was decorated with the birth of Athena, emerging from the head of Zeus.
The 92 metopes were decorated as follows: the two shorter sides each with 14 metopes were carved with scenes relating to Amazonomachy (war of the Amazons against the Greek hero Theseus, Achilles and Hercules) and Gigantomaquia (war Olympian gods against the giants). In the longer sides metopes with 33 each, are sculptured scenes Centauromachy (centaurs war against the Lapita) and the Trojan War. These struggles are symbolic, and that represent the triumph of the Greeks against their opponents, allegorically refer to the triumph of the same in the Medical Wars against the Persians. Finally
along the wall of the cella is the famous frieze of the Panathenaic procession, a ritual feast held every 4 years, in which the city gave to the goddess Athena a magnificent robe or tunic. The procession passed through the city and up to the Acropolis through the doors or to the temple Propylaea whose adjacencies were sacrificed 4 cows and 4 sheep. In the 160 running meters of frieze depict gods, knights, citizens, musicians, maidens, carrying offerings, to sacrifice animals, cars, etc.

friezes of the Parthenon. Panathenaic Procession Phidias .- .- British Museum. Known as Elguín marbles, the British Earl stripped the Parthenon of its relief to take them to England. Currently there is a claim of Greece so that the marbles be returned to him. The original frieze is 160 meters x 1 meter, consisting of 378 figures and 245 animals coming to the festival in honor of the goddess Athena. The frieze that way continuous around the cella, was a novelty in the Ionian made Doric temple. Is carved in bas-relief unlike the gable, in which the figures are in the round and in the metopes, which are in high relief.

Finally, note that the Parthenon kept in good condition nearly two thousand years, despite being intended for different uses: church, mosque and later Turkish magazine. In 1687 the Venetian army under the command of Francesco Morosini laid siege to the Acropolis, the Turks, under the belief that the Europeans would not dare fire at the temple, stored gunpowder. However a Venetian bomb destroyed the magazine wreaking havoc on the structure. Later, in the early nineteenth century English Lord Elgin robbed the temple of the reliefs that were and moved to England where they are still in the British Museum.