Part of the series on Greek culture
	Architecture Greece is often referred to as the cradle of Western civilisation and ancient Athens was considered to be its center. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (790x2405, 282 KB) Image Column from Porch of the Caryatids at Acropolis. ... Art Greece has a rich and varied artistic history, spanning some 4000 years and beginning in the Minoan prehistorical civilization, giving birth to Western classical art in the ancient period (and developing this during the Hellenistic Period), to taking in the influences of the East and the new religion of Christianity... Cinema Cuisine Greek cuisine is the cuisine deriving from Greece mainland and its associated islands. ... Dance Greek Dance is a very old and common tradition from the ancient land of Greece. ... Dress The Greece is often referred to as the cradle of Western culture and ancient Athens was considered its centre. ... Language Literature At the moment this page contains a list of links. ... Music History (Timeline and Samples) Genres: Classical music -Folk - Hip hop - Jazz - Rock Regional styles Aegean Islands - Arcadia - Argos - Athens - Crete - Cyclades - Dodecanese Islands - Epirus - Ionian Islands - Lesbos - Macedonia - Peloponnesos - Thessaloniki - Thessaly - Thrace - Cyprus The musical legacy of Greece is as diverse as its history. ... Politics Politics of Greece takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Greece is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. ... Philosophy Classical (or early) Greek philosophy focused on the role of reason and inquiry. ... Religion Sport

Greek architecture is an important part of the culture of Greece, playing a part in defining the natural landscape and collective identity of the people throughout the ages. The actual identity of Greek architecture is multi-faceted, much like the culture of the country itself, absorbing and innovating many different styles, examples of foreign architecture throughout Greece include Ottoman architecture and the more baroque Venetian architecture, which is especially pronounced on the Greek islands which were under Venetian rule at some point, such as Corfu where many examples of it can be found. The Greece is often referred to as the cradle of Western culture and ancient Athens was considered its centre. ... Water Fountain in Istanbul, 1878 Ottoman architecture is the architecture of the Ottoman Empire which emerged in Bursa and Edirne in 14th and 15th centuries. ... Adoration, by Peter Paul Rubens. ... Pontikonisi island in the background with the Vlaheraina Monastery in the foreground. ...

The main facets of native Greek architecture are Minoan, Mycenaean, Classical (the 3 orders of Corinthian, Doric, and Ionic) There are many examples throughout history, particularly after the Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution, of fusions of older styles in order to create innovative designs. Corinthian refers originally to the port of Corinth in Greece Corinthian order a classical order of Greek and Roman architecture Corinthian league Pauline epistles, books of the New Testament of the Bible: First Epistle to the Corinthians Second Epistle to the Corinthians Third Epistle to the Corinthians (Armenian Orthodox) The... Doric, a synonym of Dorian, may refer to any of the following: The Dorians, one of the ancient Hellenic races, Doric Greek, the dialect of the former, the Doric order and its distinctive Doric column, in ancient Greek architecture, the Dorian mode in music, also called the Doric mode, or... From ancient Greece (Ionic) An Ionian is a member of one of the four great divisions of the ancient Greek people. ... Combatants Greek revolutionaries, United Kingdom, Russia, France Ottoman Empire, Egyptian troops Commanders Theodoros Kolokotronis, Alexander Ypsilanti Omer Vryonis, Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt. ...

Prehistorical architecture

Minoan architecture

Minoan architecture consists of several structures which acted as centers for commercial, religious, and administrative life. Archaeologist have unearthed in Crete a Minoan landscape filled with tombs, palaces, villas, towns and the roads that connected them. All evidence of a thriving prehistoric culture able to survive and expand in the Aegean Sea. The Minoans were a pre-Hellenic Bronze Age civilization in Crete in the Aegean Sea, flourishing from approximately 2700 to 1450 BC when their culture was superseded by the Mycenaean culture, which drew upon the Minoans. ...

The Cretan archaeological landscape is adorned with the ruins of several major prehistoric palaces. The Minoans began building palaces around 1900 BC to act as cultural, religious, administrative, and commercial centers for their increasingly expanding society. Crete (Greek: Κρήτη Kríti; Turkish: Girit) is the largest of the Greek islands and the fifth largest in the Mediterranean Sea. ... The quintessential medieval European palace: Palais de la Cité, in Paris, the royal palace of France. ...

The Minoan palaces provided a forum for gathering and celebrations, while at the same time they offered storage for the crops, and workshops for the artists. They were built over time to occupy low hills at strategic places around the island in a manner so complex that they resembled labyrinths to outside visitors. The Minoan palaces were technologically advanced with expanded drainage systems, irrigation, aqueducts, and deep wells that provided fresh water to the inhabitants. The multi-storied palace buildings were laced with impressive interior and exterior staircases, light wells, massive columns, storage magazines, and gathering outdoor places -- the precursor to ancient theaters.

The Lion Gate at the Citadel of Mycenae

The construction method consisted of rough stones and ceramic bricks connected by mortar in the interior walls, while the corners of the buildings were fashioned by sharply defined large rectangular blocks. None of the Minoan palaces unearthed to date was surrounded by defensive walls, a testament to the Minoan supremacy at sea. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (842x1266, 659 KB) Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (842x1266, 659 KB) Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ...

The Minoan palaces are Knossos, Malia, Phaistos, and Zakros. A portion of Arthur Evans reconstruction of the Minoan palace at Knossos. ... Malia The Bees of Malia, two golden bees holding a drop of honey. ... Phaistos (Greek: Φαιστός), also Phaestos and Phaestus was an ancient city on the island of Crete. ... Zakros (Greek Ζάκρος) is a site on the eastern coast of the island of Crete (in modern-day Greece) containing ruins from the Minoan civilization. ...

Mycenaean architecture

The Mycenaean architecture is completely different from the Minoan. As the architecture of a city follows the need of the civilization, according to the remains, the Mycenaean civilization had a tendency for war. They built compact citadels, orderly plan and fortified by huge walls. These walls took the name of “Cyclopean” for the reason that people thought that only Cyclopes could lift the stones that composed it. This article is about the Greek archaeological site. ...

The Mycenae Palace was destroyed and the only remains one can find are walls and tombs. The most important monuments of the site are: the palace, the wall-painted “cult-centre”, the Lion gate and “Grave Circle A” which contained the treasures.

The style of architecture used by the Mycenaeans in their cities developed during the Early Mycenaean period. As with the art of the Mycenaeans, their architecture owes a great deal to the influence of the Minoans of Crete (see Minoan Art and Mycenaean Art). The plan and layout of the Bronze Age cities on the mainland resemble the “palaces” of Crete in many ways, however, the Mycenaeans did develop their own style over the following centuries. The characteristic features of Mycenaean constructions include the megaron, the use of extremely large blocks of stone, large fortification walls built around the cities, and corbel vaulting. The major classes of building projects among the Mycenaeans include the palace, the city planning and fortifications, and their immense tombs. In addition to the great architectural feats, the Mycenaeans also produced great engineering works in their system of roadways and waterworks. The Bronze Age is a period in a civilizations development when the most advanced metalworking has developed the techniques of smelting copper from natural outcroppings and alloys it to cast bronze. ... A corbel arch (or corbeled / corbelled arch) is an arch-like construction method which uses the architectural technique of corbeling to span a space or void in a structure, such as an entranceway in a wall or as the span of a bridge. ... The plumber wrench for screwing various pipes Plumbing, from the Latin for lead (plumbum), is the skilled trade of working with pipes and tubing for potable water systems and for drainage of waste. ...

Ancient Greece

Main article: Architecture of Ancient Greece

The restored Stoa of Attalus, Athens Architecture, defined as building executed to an aesthetically considered design, was extinct in Greece from the end of the Mycenaean period (about 1200 BC) to the 7th century BC, when urban life and prosperity recovered to a point where public building could be undertaken. ...

Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic Period

The Parthenon is perhaps the best surviving example of the Doric style of Greek architecture

Architecture, defined as building executed to an aesthetically considered design, was extinct in Greece from the end of the Mycenaean period (about 1200 BC) to the 7th century BC, when urban life and prosperity recovered to a point where public building could be undertaken. But since most Greek buildings in the colonization period (8th - 6th century BC), were made of wood or mud-brick or clay, nothing remains of them except for a few ground-plans, and almost no written sources on early architecture or descriptions of these embryonic buildings exist. Image File history File links Ac_parthenon2. ... Image File history File links Ac_parthenon2. ... Doric, a synonym of Dorian, may refer to any of the following: The Dorians, one of the ancient Hellenic races, Doric Greek, the dialect of the former, the Doric order and its distinctive Doric column, in ancient Greek architecture, the Dorian mode in music, also called the Doric mode, or...

Around 600 BC, the wooden columns of the old Temple of Hera at Olympia underwent a material transformation, known as "petrification", in which they were replaced by stone columns. By degrees, other parts of the temple were petrified until the entire temple was made of stone. With the spread of this process to other sanctuaries, Greek temples and significant buildings from the 6th century BC onwards were built largely from stone, and a few fortunate examples have survived through the ages. Most of our knowledge of Greek architecture comes from the late archaic period (550 - 500 BC), the early to pure classical period (400 - 430 BC), and the Periclean age (450 - 430 BC). Greek examples are considered alongside Hellenistic and Roman periods (since Roman architecture heavily copied Greek), and late written sources such as Vitruvius (1st century). This results in a strong bias towards temples, the only buildings which survive in numbers.

Like Greek painting and sculpture, Greek architecture in the first half of classical antiquity was not "art for art's sake" in the modern sense. The architect was a craftsman employed by the state or a wealthy private client. No distinction was made between the architect and the building contractor. The architect designed the building, hired the laborers' and craftsmen who built it, and was responsible for both its budget and its timely completion. He did not enjoy any of the lofty status accorded to modern architects of public buildings. Even the names of architects are not known before the 5th century. An architect like Iktinos, who designed the Parthenon, who would today be seen as a genius, was treated in his lifetime as no more than a very valuable master tradesman.

Roman Greece

The Temple of Olympian Zeus, an example of the Roman's adoption of the Corinthian Order

Main article: Roman architecture

The Romans adopted the external language of classical Greek architecture for their own purposes, which were so different from Greek buildings as to create a new architectural style. The two styles are often considered one body of classical architecture. Sometimes that approach is productive, and sometimes it hinders understanding by causing us to judge Roman buildings by Greek standards. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (3456x2304, 793 KB) The remaining structure of The Temple of Olympian Zeus. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (3456x2304, 793 KB) The remaining structure of The Temple of Olympian Zeus. ... The Romans adopted the external language of classical Greek architecture for their own purposes, which were so different from Greek buildings as to create a new architectural style. ... The Roman Empire is the name given to both the imperial domain developed by the city-state of Rome and also the corresponding phase of that civilization, characterized by an autocratic form of government. ...

Roman architecture represents a fusion of traditional Greek and Etruscan elements, notably the trabeated orders, with new structural principles based on the development of the arch and of a new building material, concrete. The Romans achieved originality in building very late in their existence; for the whole of the republican period, Roman architecture was heavily influenced by Greece, aside from the Etruscan contribution of the arch, and its later three-dimensional counterpart, the dome. The only two developments of any significance were the Tuscan and Composite orders; the first being a shortened, simplified variant on the Doric order and the Composite being a tall order with the floral decoration of the Corinthian and the scrolls of the Ionic. See: Etruscan civilization Etruscan language Etruscan alphabet Etruscan mythology See also: Tyrrhenian, Lemnian, Pelasgian. ... Isometric view of a typical arch An arch is a curved structure capable of spanning a space while supporting significant weight (e. ... From ancient Greece (Ionic) An Ionian is a member of one of the four great divisions of the ancient Greek people. ...

There were many Greek innovators of this period as well, such as Herodes Atticus and Apollodorus of Damascus. Atticus most famously is remembered for his theater in Athens, and Apollodorus for the Forum of Trajan and Pantheon in Rome. Lucius Vibullius Hipparchus Tiberius Claudius Atticus Herodes, commonly known as Herodes Atticus (c. ... Apollodorus of Damascus, a famous Greek architect, engineer, designer and sculptor, flourished during the 2nd century AD. He was a favourite of Trajan, for whom he constructed Trajans Bridge over the Danube (104) for the campaign in Dacia. ... Pantheon may refer to: Buildings: Pantheon, Rome, a temple built in 125 AD to all Roman gods, now a Christian church. ...

Byzantine architecture

Main article: Byzantine architecture

Interior of the Hagia Sophia, showing many features of the grandest Byzantine architecture.

With the Roman Empire's adoption of Christianity under Constantine I and a shift in culture, ethnicity and language towards the Greek East, essentially, by the time of Heraclius' reign, the Byzantine Empire had become something of a Greek Empire continuing the Roman tradition in the East. Therefore it is necessary to consider Byzantine architecture canonically part of Greek architecture. Byzantine architecture is the architecture of the Byzantine Empire. ... Hagia Sofia Interior, Istanbul, June 1994, copyright User:Alex756 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Hagia Sofia Interior, Istanbul, June 1994, copyright User:Alex756 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia, i. ... This article is becoming very long. ... Bronze statue of Constantine I in York, England, near the spot where he was proclaimed Emperor in 306 For other uses, see Constantine I (disambiguation). ... The term Greek East is used to define the territories of the Greek-speaking, Hellenized, Eastern Roman Empire, as opposed to the Latin West. ... Heraclius and his sons Heraclius Constantine and Heraclonas. ...

Early Byzantine architecture is essentially a continuation of Roman architecture. Gradually, a style emerged which imbued certain influences from the Near East and used the Greek cross plan for the church architecture. Brick replaced stone, classical orders were used more freely, mosaics replaced carved decoration, and complex domes were erected. This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Mosaic is the art of decoration with small pieces of colored glass, stone or other material. ...

Prime examples of early Byzantine architecture date from Justinian I's reign and survive in Ravenna and Constantinople, as well as in Sofia (the Church of St Sophia). One of the great breakthroughs in the history of Western architecture occurred when Justinian's architects invented a complex system providing for a smooth transition from a square plan of the church to a circular dome (or domes) by means of squinches or pendentives. The Hagia Sophia went on to become one of the greatest churches ever built and revolutionary in its design and completion time. Justinian I depicted on one of the famous mosaics of the Basilica of San Vitale. ... Ravenna is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. ... Map of Constantinople. ... St Peters Basilica (topped with a lantern), Rome A dome is a common structural element of architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a sphere. ... Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia, i. ...

The Middle period of Byzantine history saw no ambitious architectural undertaking. From the years of Iconoclasm we have only the Church of Hagia Sophia, Thessaloniki. Another major building, the Assumption church in Nicaea, was destroyed in the 1920s, although the photographs survive.

In Constantinople and Asia Minor the architecture of the Comnenan period is almost non-existent, with the notable exception of the Elmali Kilise and other rock sanctuaries of Cappadocia. Much architecture survives on the outskirts of the Byzantine world, where the national forms of architecture came into being: in the Transcaucasian countries, in Russia, Bulgaria, Serbia, and other Slavic lands; and also in Sicily (Cappella Palatina) and Veneto (St Mark's Basilica, Torcello Cathedral).

Architecture in Modern Greece

The Athens Olympic Velodrome, designed by Santiago Calatrava.

Greek architecture following the revolution was either based around Byzantine architecture if it was church based, or Neo-Classical styles that were popular in Europe at the time, occasionally the two clashed creating simple yet beautiful examples of Byzantine-Classical styles. However, many Neo-Classical buildings of this period no longer exist due to war, exploitation of lax building regulations or general need for housing space in Athens. Several restored buildings, such as the Stoa also serve as examples of architecture in the modern Greek period. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1469x1028, 237 KB) The Athens 2004 Olympic Velodrome designed by Santiago Calatrava. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1469x1028, 237 KB) The Athens 2004 Olympic Velodrome designed by Santiago Calatrava. ... Womens Bridge, in Puerto Madero, Buenos Aires. ... Byzantine architecture is the architecture of the Byzantine Empire. ... Athens (Greek: Αθήνα, Athína IPA: ) is the capital and largest city of Greece and the birthplace of democracy. ... The Painted Porch (Stoa poikile), during the 3rd century BC, was where Zeno of Citium taught Stoicism. ...

More recently, Postmodernist architecture has appeared as an example of architecture in modern Greece, examples include The East terminal by Eero Saarinen, at former The Hellenikon airport, The American embassy by Walter Gropius, at Vassilissis Sofias Avenue and perhaps more famously, New Acropolis Museum by Bernard Tschumi and the Athens Olympic Sports Complex. Andy Warhols iconic Marilyn Monroe // Postmodernism is an idea that has been extremely controversial and difficult to define among scholars, intellectuals, and historians, as it connotes to many the hotly debated idea that the modern historical period has passed. ... Saarinens Gateway Arch frames The Old Courthouse, which sits at the heart of the city of Saint Louis, near the rivers edge. ... Walter Gropius (circa 1920). ... Vassilissis Sofias Avenue or Vasilissis Sofias Avenue (Greek: Λεωφόρος Βασιλίσσης Σοφίας Leoforos Vassilissis Sofias) is a major avenue in the east side of Athens, the Greek capital. ... Bernard Tschumi (born January 25, 1944 Lausanne, Switzerland) is a contemporary French/Swiss architect, writer, and academic. ... The Athens Olympic Sports Complex is the central group of facilities for the 2004 Summer Olympics. ...