Greek Architecture

6 Pages 1421 Words

In the time of the New Stone Age in Greece, sometime around 5000 B.C., one the most popular forms of architecture was started by the Greeks. This form, being that of Greek Architecture. The Greeks started out using mud and wood in their building of huts. “Their most important innovation was the replacement of wood by stone, which changed Greek Architecture into what it is recognized as today.” (1) They used these materials and their architectural knowledge to build such things as houses and temples, and then later palaces, tombs, and other buildings that served as social meeting places. In these buildings, they used different styles starting with Doric order, and later upgrading to Ionic and the more complex Corinthian. Along with these styles they used a design that included light functions, columns, arches, and vaulting. All the buildings in Greek Architecture were built for different purposes and are unique in their appearance, due to the different influences.
The Greeks had many influences on their architecture, such as geographical, religious, social, and geological. The geographical influences consisted of the island of Crete being one of the main sea powers of the Mediterranean Sea, which allowed for trade ships to establish routes. When the Aegean Civilization fell, these routes became ways for colonists to bring their cultures over to Greece’s mainland. The sea was even more important because the mountains made intercommunication difficult amongst Greeks.
Along with geography, religion was a big influence that was derived from the Aegean Civilization. The Aegean’s worshipped the natural phenomena but the Greeks did it more developed, with the role gods played in their culture. It was also their religious belief that unified the Greeks socially.
In fact, in Sir Banister Fletcher’s book, History of Architecture, he writes:
”Greeks were essentially democratic . . . the citizens shared in all affairs of ...