Parthenon Architecture: The Temple On The Acropolis Of Athens

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Parthenon Architecture The magnificent temple on the Acropolis of Athens, known as the Parthenon, was built in the Age of Pericles, and it was dedicated to the city’s patron deity Athena.

The Parthenon combines elements of the Doric[1] and Ionic[2] orders. Basically a Doric peripteral temple, which means that it consists of a rectangular floor plan with a series of low steps on every side, and a colonnade of Doric columns extending around the periphery of the entire structure. Each entrance has an additional six columns in front of it. The larger of the two interior rooms, the naos, housed the cult statue. The smaller room (the opisthodomos) was used as a treasury. But it features a continuous sculpted frieze borrowed from the Ionic order, as well as our Ionic columns supporting the roof of the opisthodomos. (Plan of the temple[3]) The three main types of columns used in Greek temples and other public buildings are Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian[4]. Doric is not only a type of column, but an "order"; this means that temples of the Doric order not only have this type of column, but also have a certain structure at the upper levels. The different types of orders (column plus entablature) are illustrated by these diagrams, from Perseus: Doric order, and Ionic order. The Doric order is characterised by the series of triglyphs and metopes[5] on the entablature. Each metope was occupied by a panel of relief sculpture.

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