Architecture of Ancient Greece

Conditions for the emergence and development of architecture in Ancient Greece

Geographic conditions. Ancient Greece was located in a fairly mountainous area. The mountains divide it into small plains, where the main cities are formed. This area was determined by high seismicity. Greece is also an island country, washed on all sides by the sea, which facilitated trade and shipping. The coastline is heavily indented. The sea is the main communication.

Climatic conditions. The climate of Greece is very hot in summer and very humid with heavy rainfall in winter. The climatic factor influenced the origin and typification of the outer colonnade of Greek temples.

Conditions for choosing materials. There was an abundance of timber for construction – wooden poles, beams, and hewn boards were widely used. In addition to the construction of ordinary roof trusses, Greek builders were able to make rather complex wooden trusses.

Stone was widely used in monumental construction. Of the rocks, Greece is especially rich in marble, which of all building materials is the best to work with. There was also limestone.

The country is rich in silver, copper and iron. Raw brick was the building material for mass needs in Ancient Greece. Fired bricks and tiles were used only for the decoration of buildings.

Religious conditions. The religion of the ancient Greeks was the worship of natural phenomena, which were embodied in the image of the gods. Priests performed certain rituals but did not constitute a special stratum in society. The Greeks, being pragmatic and rational, did not deny the existence of the otherworldly, but tried to build relationships with the outside world from the point of view of common sense and logic. Everyday human life and mythical life had a clearer separation than it was in the imagination of other peoples of antiquity.

Compared to other civilizations of the Ancient World, the Greek civilization was distinguished by anthropocentrism – it was focused on a person, placing him at the center of the universe. In any religious worldview, no matter which one, God is the most precious, and and if it depicts God in the form of a man, then man is the most precious thing in this spiritual culture. Therefore, everything, including the architecture of Ancient Greece, is anthropomorphic. Man is the measure of all things.

Socio-political conditions. The primitive inhabitants of Greece – Pelazgi – Bronze Age. They fell under the iron arms of the Achaeans who surged from the north and to whom the Greeks of Homer belonged. The Achaeans, in turn, were conquered by the Dorians, a strong tribe of highlanders, who also came from the north and established themselves in Sparta and other cities of the Peloponnese. In the classical era, the population consisted of Ionians (descendants of the Pelazgians) and Aeolians (descendants of the Achaeans) and Dorians. Greece did not become a centralized state (this, first of all, was facilitated by its geographical position), and only the threat of conquest by the Persians forced the policies to join forces in the fight against an external enemy. Greek society is focused on ubiquitous contacts with other countries, not only for the purpose of trade in various goods, but also mutual enrichment of the necessary information. The curiosity of the Greeks and their interest in other cultures allowed them to adopt the best from there. At the same time, they did not do it blindly, but tried to adapt someone else’s to their special needs, inclinations and tastes, turning borrowings into an organic part of ancient Greek culture.

Periods of the history of architecture of Ancient Greece and the main structures:

• Homeric period – (II – VIII centuries BC) – the temple of Artemis Orphia in Sparta.
• Archaic period – (VII – VI centuries BC) – Temple of Hera at Olympia, Temple of Hera at Paestum, Temple of Apollo at Farm, Temple of Athena (Aphaea) on the island of Aegina, Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, Temple of Artemis on the island of Corfu, Temple of Apollo in Corinth.
• Classical period – (VI – V BC) Ensemble of the Athenian Acropolis (propylaea of ​​the Athenian Acropolis, Parthenon, Erechtheion, Nika Apteros temple, Dionysus theater in Athens), Zeus temple in Olympia.

1) Early Classics (I half of the V century BC)

2) High classics (II half of the V century BC)

3) Late classics. (IV BC – 323 BC)

• Hellenism 323 -the end of the 1st century BC. (Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, Pergamon Altar, Colossus of Rhodes, Temple of Athena at Priene, Temple of Phoebus Didim at Miletus).

The main features of ancient Greek architecture:

1) Using the terrain as a component of the architectural form;

2) Tectonicity;

3) Rationalism;

4) Anthropomorphism;

5) Simplicity;

6) Harmony of elements;

7) Noble proportions;

8) Symmetry;

9) Order system;

10) Kalokagatia – construction and decoration – harmonious and absolutely unified;

11) The main focus on the exterior;

12) Variegation and polychrome finish;

13) Development of a typology of public buildings;

14) Synthesis of architecture and fine arts;

15) Regular city planning.

Constructions:

The main structures used in ancient Greek architecture were wall and post-and-beam systems. Their appearance and development was determined by building materials. The post-and-beam system in the architecture of ancient Greece became the main object of constructive architectural and artistic searches.

The ancient Greeks did not use mortar for masonry or the construction of a post-and-beam system. The rectangular stones-kvadras from which the walls were erected were amenable to careful processing. The columns consisted of cylindrical drum blocks, the edges of which, in contact, fit very well to each other. The horizontal edges, through which the horizontal load was transmitted, were made perfectly flat. Due to the increased seismic activity, the ancient Greek builders were forced to fasten the stone blocks with metal pins, pyrons inserted into special nests and filled with lead.

Homeric period.

The architecture of this period, in fact, was a continuation of the building art of the Cretan-Mycenaean civilization.

In the cities of this period, there was a distribution into a fortified upper city (acropolis) and a lower city without city walls. A communal square, the agora, appeared in the lower city.

During this period, residential buildings often had a rounded shape behind, characteristic of adobe walls or for masonry of rubble stone on clay mortar. With the improvement of construction techniques and with the development of timber frame structures, a rectangular shape of buildings was established. Along with pitched roofs, flat adobe roofs were used, their design was common in the eastern regions of the Greek world. The main type of housing – megaron – a type of building that developed in the era of the Aegean culture, was made of raw brick or rubble stone, it consisted of an entrance portico, behind which there was a hall with a hearth in the middle.

Archaic period.

Features:

1) Massive proportions: heavy capitals with short fusts;

2) Distribution of the Doric order;

3) The elongation of the structure in length;

4) An odd number of columns;

5) The emergence of public buildings.

In the archaic period, the basic principles of planning Greek settlements were formed with the allocation of public and religious centers – agora – city square and acropolis.

Ancient Greece, for the first time in the history of world architecture, offers public buildings: bouleutheria (buildings for the meeting of the state council), leshi (buildings for meetings, interviews, clubs), theaters, stages – squares for sports. Competition was one of the important principles of the Greek culture. Artistic and sports competitions played a significant role in the daily life of the ancient Greeks. Temples and sports facilities were the backbone of archaic architecture.

In the archaic period, the main types of temples were approved.

Ancient Greek temples are classified based on the number and way of placing their pillars.

Types of ancient Greek temples:

The temple in “antes” is a temple that consisted of a naos, rectangular in plan, oriented to the east. The roof was gable, covered with ceramic and marble tiles. The façade between the antas (protrusions of the side walls) was flanked by two columns (Temple at Ramnunti).

Prostyle is a type of temple, the facade of which has one open portico, consisting of a row of four columns, two of which replace the antes. (Doric Temple at Selinunte in Sicily).

Amphiprostyle is a type of temple, with a colonnade from two facades – front and rear. From the side of the latter, the entrance to the treasury was often located. (Temple of “Wingless Victory” in Athens).

Peripter is a type of temple, the colonnade of which developed along the perimeter. Such a temple best suited the idea of a circular view of the structure. Peripter is the most common type of ancient Greek temple. It was in this form that he found his completeness and integrity. The peripter could often be hexastyle – six-column (Theseion in Athens, the temple of Neptune in Paestum, the temple of Apollo in Bassa), or octostyle – eight-column (Parthenon in Athens).

Dipter is a rectangular room surrounded by two rows of columns along the outer perimeter. (Octostyle – the temple of Olympian Zeus in Athens, the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, decastile – the temple of Apollo Didymeysky in Miletus).

Pseudodipter – a type of temple with pseudo-columns, which are attached to the walls intact and do not bear the main load (Temple of Zeus in Agrigent).

Temple with an asymmetric plan (Erechtheion in Athens).

Tholos is a type of religious building, round in plan, surrounded by columns.

Ancient Greek order:

Greek art was guided in everything by the measure of man.

Order – an architectural design of a post-and-beam system in a particular culture.

Ancient Greek architects created three canonical architectural orders: Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian.

Samples of the Doric order:

• Geryon at Olympia;
• Temple of Athena in Corinth;
• Temple of Poseidon on the island of Paros;
• Temple of Zeus at Olympia;
• Temple of Hephaestus in Athens,
• Parthenon in Athens;
• Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion;
• Propylaea (gate) in Athens;
• Temple of Apollo Epicurius in Bassa;
• Temple of Demeter at Eleusis.

Samples of the Ionic order:

• Archaic Temple of Artemis in Ephesus;
• Temple on the banks of the Ilis river in Athens;
• Temple of Niki-Apteros in Athens;
• Propylaea in Athens;
• Temple of Apollo Epicurius in Bassa (only internal order);
• Erechtheion in Athens;
• Mausoleum in Halicarnassus;
• Temple of Dionysius in Teos;
• Philipeillon at Olympia (outer colonnade);
• Temple of Athena Pallas in Priene, near Miletus.

Samples of the Corinthian order:

• Temple of Apollo Epicurius in Bassa (single inner colonnade);
• Tholos in Epidaurus (internal order);
• Flipeyon in Olympia (inner semi-colonnades);
• Choregic monument of Lysicrates in Athens;
• Temple of Apollo Didymeysky in Branchids, near Miletus (two inner semi-colonnades);
• Olympion or the Temple of Olympian Zeus in Athens;
• Tower of the Winds in Athens.

The temple was considered by the ancient Greeks as the dwelling place of God, his home. The temple architecture of Ancient Greece in its development is based on the idea of the megaron. During the construction of the temple, great attention was paid to the choice of its location; its usual location was the center of the city square or the acropolis. The ancient Greek temple has always occupied an emphatically dominant place among city buildings. In ancient Greek architecture, two main types of temples prevailed: a temple dedicated to God (it was always oriented with the main facade to the east) and temples dedicated to heroes who were equated with gods after death (were deployed to the west towards the kingdom of the dead). In the archaic period, the Greek order took shape in two versions – Doric and Ionic. Doric was older and more widespread.

In the archaic period, proportional relationships were not yet established, their searches were actively pursued.

Archaic temples built from limestone are distinguished by the fact that they often had large capitals and too short columnar trunks.

The ratio of the number of columns on the long and front sides was not equal. For this reason, the temple turned out to be too elongated along the long side. An odd number of columns of the main facade during the archaic period was a common occurrence, which made it impossible to highlight the main entrance and make it the main axis of the composition.

Ancient Greek architecture was always brightly coloured.

The combination of red and blue was very common. The tympans of the pediments and the background of the metopes, triglyphs and some other details of the entablature were painted. Sculpture, which was actively used in the decoration of the temple, was also coloured. The abundance of colour is associated with the idea of revitalizing the stone, it heightened the feeling of festivity and solemnity of architecture, emphasizing the architectonics of parts of the building.

Round sculpture could also decorate temples. As a rule, these were anthropomorphic figures of kouros, kores, gods. For the archaic period, characteristic are static figures from an almost undivided stone block with poorly outlined body shapes. The head is set straight, the hair falls symmetrically on the shoulders, the arms are lowered along the body. The archaic sculpture is distinguished by the so-called characteristic “archaic smile”.

The archaic sights came to us in small numbers and in a very ruined state.

The archaic temple of Apollo in Ferma (7th century BC) was stylobate-sized – 12.13×38.23 m. The Naos was narrow and elongated (4.6 m wide). There was an opisthod. The porticos are wide enough. The temple had wooden floors and a tiled roof. The outer colonnade was wooden, set on high stone bases. Columns – 5×15. Later, in the VI century. BC, the columns were replaced with stone ones. The ceramic cladding and decorations in this temple created an impressive appearance.

The archaic temple of Hera in Poseidonia (c. VI century BC), erected in the middle of the VI century BC, is considered the most ancient structure of Paestum. The temple consists of 18 columns on the long side and 9 (an odd number is typical for deep archaism) along the short – the main facade. The size of the temple according to the three-stage stereobath is 24.52 × 54.3 m.

The order has a bright archaic character. The columns acquired a mushroom-like configuration, in which the main features of the ancient Greek archaic are manifested: a wide echin and a fust, which narrows strongly towards the top.

The archaic temple of Artemis in Ephesus (second half of the 6th century BC), the temple was a dipter of more than 100 m along the long side, respectively, had a double colonnade. Four rows of columns, two in each row, formed the pronaos. Plastically shaped drums served as a support for the columns of the eastern and western facades. It is believed that the outside of the temple was paneled with wood.

Features of the architecture of Ancient Greece during the classical period

1. The peripter became the main type of temple in the classical era.
2. The canonical principle of temple construction was created. The proportions become thinner. Column diameter at the bottom – the module according to which the sizes of all order elements were calculated;
3. Using optical illusions and conditions of visual perception of structures;
4. Synthesis of arts and architecture;
5. Principles of free harmonious balance;
6. Tectonicity, clarity, rhythm, linearity;
7. The construction of religious architecture is inferior to the secular one: halls of public meetings, gymnasiums, palestras, pinakothekas, stadiums, theaters, etc.
8. Regular planning. Implementation of the hippodamous system.

Ancient Hellas, after the invasion of the Persians, perceived itself as a single state, as a single nation, consisting of many policies. Realization of themselves as Greeks, who opposed the Persians and the differences of ancient Greek culture from the rest of the oecumene, came. Accordingly, there was an idea of a specific city that played a key role in the Hellenic world and Hellenic culture. Athens claimed the role of such a center.

Athens reached its grandiose heyday during the time of Pericles – the golden age of ancient Greek culture.

Urban planning. At that time, the idea of regular or correct planning arose, instead of the chaotic development of the city around the core of the acropolis. In the era of the classics, a new urban planning system was established, it was called the “hippodamous system” after the name of the person who proposed it (Hippodamus of Miletus). He suggested not to build a city as one liked, but to use a system of streets located according to a pre-planned plan for the formation of the city.

Features of the hippodamous system:

• Open character of planning;
• Building up development from the center to the periphery;
• Zoning of the territory according to the main functional features;
• The only quarterly grid of the plan, into which all elements fit, from a residential building to a large public complex;
• Crossing streets at right angles.

Hippodamus proposed a planning system based on a rectangular grid, the intersection of wide long streets, with short narrow alleys. Two basic principles:

1) the division of the city by streets intersecting at right angles. In the classical version: four main streets, straight and parallel to each other, intersected at right angles with three transverse streets, also straight and parallel; in the center there was a free space for agora and temples.

Residential quarters, equal in size, were divided in half by a passage in which sewer trenches were arranged, covered with slabs. Straight streets (if the relief allowed) were oriented to the cardinal points. There was a completely natural idea that a square should be built at the intersection of the alley and the street. In the space of these small squares where public buildings can be built – temples, gymnasiums, palaestras, markets, stoas, public meeting halls, where citizens of the polis gathered to discuss matters. The agora adjoined the main street.

• The second principle is the formation of zones in the city; they differ in function: a social and religious center, residential areas, port, trade, and craft areas. Theaters and stadiums were built outside residential areas. This could not be extended to all of Athens, but the port area of Piraeus is considered an example of the application of the Hippodamus system.

The main architectural project of high classics is the Construction of the Athenian Acropolis.

The Acropolis is located on a high hill in Athens, a place naturally formed – a rock. And this rock is decorated most architecturally, as the most important site in the city. Urban architectural tasks of the construction of the Acropolis associated with the celebration of the Great Panathenae – an All-Athenian holiday. The inhabitants of the city brought sacrifices to Athena every year, in the form of a peplos – a garment for the goddess. To do this, they went to the Acropolis, climbing it from its western side.

When implementing the architectural and compositional design of the Acropolis ensemble, the architects abandoned its symmetry, which was characteristic of the archaic era. The visually different types of buildings in the Acropolis ensemble come into view gradually.

One space is separated from another by the creation of a transition, which must be marked and here the idea of a gate arises, it is called propylaea (437 – 432 BC) – the gate separating the mortal world, the world of chaos, from the sacred, higher, divine world. Propylaea have five openings, the middle one is the widest. The structure is asymmetrical. The facades are decorated with six-column Doric porticoes. The sides of the passage are decorated with the Ionian order.

Three temples are visible from the point at the entrance to the propylaea. The location shows a great connection between the geometry of mathematics and mythology.

The Temple of Niki Apteros (“Wingless Victory”) (449 – 421 BC) was the first to meet on the way of the Panathenaeus procession. This is amphiprostyle, 8.13×5.4 m. Here the Greeks used not the Doric order, but the Ionic one, which was more decorative. The Doric order is also victorious, symbolizing the assertion of the power of the Dorians. Now the victory is different – a cultural victory, a victory of civilization. Due to the need to create a feeling of lightness and stability, curvatures are used at the same time. Entablature reduced in relation to the height of the column in order to create a feeling of lightness. The Athenians erected a wingless sculpture of Nike in the temple so that the goddess of victory would forever remain in Athens.

The Parthenon in Athens (454 – 438) is the largest temple in the Athenian Acropolis. It was built under Pericles and dedicated to Athena Parthenos – Athena-Virgin. It is a classic peripter surrounded by 46 columns. The peripter is provided for viewing from different sides and therefore the road to the Acropolis bypasses the hill in a circle. From the entrance, the temple unfolds in foreshortening – we see the angle and immediately understand that the temple is three-dimensional.

The architects were Iktin, Kalikrat. Phidias supervised the sculptural work.

The Parthenon’s plan is more complicated than that of a conventional peripteral temple. It consisted of a pronaos, a naos, an opistodome, a hall behind the opisthodom, in which the treasury of the Athenian state was preserved.

The stylobate of the Parthenon is 69.54 m long and 30.89 m wide, so the length to width ratio is 4: 9.

All the interior rooms of the Parthenon rise above the stylobate by two steps (0.71 m in total): colonnades, pronaos and opisthodes. Pronaos and opisthodes had porticos of six to 8 columns (h = 10.08 m, d = 1.646 m (eastern portico) and 1.717 m (western portico)), which were located behind the columns of the end sides.

In terms of proportions, they are lighter than the outer colonnade. The depth of the pronaos is 5.42 m, the depth of the opistodoma is 5.28 m. The projections of the antes outline them on both sides. The doors, measuring 4.92 m wide and 10 m high, led from the pronaos and opisthodom to the naos and treasury. A two-tiered colonnade of the Doric order surrounded the place of the chryso-elephantine statue of Athena Phidias – the main compositional point, from three sides: along the side and rear walls.

There were nine columns each in the longitudinal rows of the colonnade. At the end of two rows were square pillars with pilasters. Three columns of the rear transverse row were installed between them. Columns of the second tier stood on the architrave of this colonnade. This arrangement of the colonnade inside the naos was artistically conditioned. The U-shaped arrangement of the colonnade framed the statue of Athena-Promachos – the Athena-warrior, giving completeness to the interior space – the colonnade closed it on the side opposite to the entrance. The back row of columns contributed to a more effective perception of the statue of Athena. Its dimensions were visually increased due to the two-tiered colonnade, giving it even greater monumentality.

A row of Doric columns formed the outer colonnade, but instead of six, eight were used, enhancing the effect of wealth and splendor. Such a colonnade, with a Doric order, could look too harsh, monumental and laconic.

Since here it was necessary to create a feeling of victory, harmonious power, a combination of Doric and Ionic is used. A facade of this type, like the facade of the Parthenon, is more characteristic of the Ionic order: the emphasis in the entablature is placed not on the architrave abacus, but on the pediments.

The sides of the Parthenon had seventeen columns (d = 1.905 m), the diameter of the corner columns was increased (d = 1.944 m). The height of the columns (with capitals) is 10.43 m. The column shafts were composed of 10 – 12 drums. According to the norm adopted in the 5th century BC, the number of flutes is 20.

The ancient Hellenes found a formula for beauty, deriving it from the proportions of the human body, considering that man is the measure of all things. It is the proportion of the human body at the heart of the golden ratio, according to the laws of which the Parthenon is built.

The height is equal to half the width. If you draw the hypotenuse – and postpone the height on it, and project the distance on the other side to the lower leg – at this point we see a column. The other column is built symmetrically. The entire facade is built further from these columns.

Ancient Greek architects believed that the sharp predominance of the direct leads to uniformity, to the unification of forms, and the absence of transition curves causes a sharp “collision” of columns with architrave. Excessive richness of curves causes feelings of anxiety and oversaturation. And only a commensurate combination – the harmony of the straight and the curve, opposed to each other, gives an artistic form where the beauty of the whole is achieved. The complete absence of straight lines is a characteristic feature of the Parthenon. It is built faster on a subjective rather than an objective basis. To create a thing that seems perfect, the Hellenes invented a system of optical adjustments.

One of the optical illusions that the ancient Greeks used in the construction of the Parthenon was the so-called Goering’s illusion.

The architects of Ancient Greece knew that strictly horizontal lines and flat surfaces from a distance seem to be bent in the middle. In an effort to correct this visual error, ancient architecture used a phenomenon called curvature – a slight curvature of building elements. For example, a perfectly flat floor would appear bent in the middle; to avoid this, the floor of the Parthenon is slightly convex. In the center, the steps of the stylobate are 10 cm higher than at the edges. If you put an object 10-15 cm high at one end of the step and look at it from the other end, then this object will not be visible.The architects of Ancient Greece knew that strictly horizontal lines and flat surfaces from a distance seem to be bent in the middle. In an effort to correct this visual error, ancient architecture used a phenomenon called curvature – a slight curvature of building elements. For example, a perfectly flat floor would appear bent in the middle; to avoid this, the floor of the Parthenon is slightly convex. In the center, the steps of the stylobate are 10 cm higher than at the edges. If you put an object 10-15 cm high at one end of the step and look at it from the other end, this object will not be visible.

Other horizontal lines (architrave, frieze, cornice) are also slightly curved.

In addition, the axes of the columns are not strictly vertical, but slightly inclined inward, creating a pyramidal structure. The slope is from 6.5 to 8.3 cm. It varies depending on the place the column occupies and which colonnade it is installed in. Therefore, all the columns of the Parthenon are different. The axes of the corner columns converge at one point at a height of several kilometers.

It is believed that this technique makes the building more resistant to earthquakes. Also, this arrangement of the columns neutralizes the optical illusion, in which a series of vertical lines seem to expand towards the top.

The columns of the Parthenon vary in thickness. The corners are made thicker (1.95 versus 1.9) to make the other columns appear thinner against a light background. The columns of the inner rows in the porticoes of the Parthenon are set at a certain height in relation to the columns of the outer row. Therefore, it seems that they are standing further, and the portico goes into the depths. This was done to give the impression of the massiveness of the corner columns, which supported the bulk of the ceiling, otherwise they seemed too thin and unstable.

The columns of the facades had entasis – a slight thickening of the lower part of the column trunk and its narrowing towards the top along a smooth curve. Entasis is characteristic of the Doric order and was used to give more grace to the colonnade.

The front sides had intercolumnia of 2.4 m, which narrowed towards the corners up to 1.78 m. The capitals of the Parthenon are Doric. Their height is equal to 0.082 of the total column height. The proportions of the entablature are lighter than is usually accepted in the Doric order. Its height is 0.316 of the column height (3.29 m). The height of the architrave is equal to the height of the frieze (1.345 m); the ratio of the heights of the architrave, frieze, cornice is 10: 10: 4.46. The planes of the pediments are inclined towards the viewer.

The sculpture of the Parthenon in allegorical form is dedicated to the victory of the Greeks over the Persians, as well as the patron goddess of the city – Athena.

The figured frieze that adorned the outer walls of the naos and reflected the sacred procession of the Athenians during the Panathenaeus.

At the pediments: sculptural reliefs “The Birth of Athena”, “The Dispute of Athena and Poseidon.” The northern facade depicts the struggle of the Greeks with the Amazons, the eastern one depicts the struggle of the gods with the giants. The struggle of the centaurs with the lapiths is depicted on the southern facade, the fall of Troy – on the west. They are united by the victory of the Hellenes over others. What is important: centaurs, giants, barbarians, etc., these are strangers – not Greeks – this is a symbol of animality, animal nature in man. Thus, in the sculptural forms of the high classics, the symbolic victory of Hellenic culture over the barbarians is embodied. The victory of space over chaos, reason over instincts.

Erechtheion (421 – 406 BC) Dimensions: 11, 63 X23.5 m on the stylobate. Everything is clear and simple in the Parthenon – everything is complex and picturesque here. The temple is complex and asymmetrical in plan, due to the relief. The two entrances are located at different levels. The Erechtheion united two temples – Athens and Poseidon.

Each facade of the Erechtheion is architecturally distinctive. From the east it had a six-column Ionic portico with a pediment. On the west side there is an Ionic portico with four columns in the front and two at the back of the corners. The main decoration of the Erechtheion is the southern portico, where instead of columns there are six marble maiden figures-caryatids, which at ease support the ceiling of the portico, performing a constructive function. The height of the sculptures is 2.6 m.

The Theater of Dionysus was located at the foot of the Acropolis and was the main secular structure of Attica. Ancient Greek theaters were built, as a rule, on the slopes of the mountains. The theater consisted of an orchestra, skena and a theater. Orchestra is a round platform for choir performances, to which a skene (a room for training actors) adjoins on one side. Opposite it, a theater was being built, there were seats for spectators, which were located around the orchestra. At first, in ancient Greek performances, the main character was the chorus, from which one protagonist actor stood out, he was opposed to the chorus, in fact, creating tragedy as a genre. Tragedian Aeschylus added a second actor, tragedian Sophocles added a third one. With these three actors and the choir in classical Greece, the development of theater stopped. Sophocles also invented theatrical scenery.

The structures of the Athenian Acropolis have a long and complex history. During the Byzantine era, church services were held in the Parthenon. When Greece came under Turkish rule, it was turned into a mosque. However, in 1687, during the war between the Turks and the Venetians, a shell hit the powder store in the Parthenon, causing significant damage to the temple. After that, the plundering and additional destruction of the remains of other attractions of the Acropolis ensemble began.

The fragmentation and presence of parts of architectural and sculptural fragments and individual details of the Acropolis is almost a personal tragedy for every modern Greek, in particular the Parthenon marble and one of the Erechtheion caryatids, taken out by Lord Elgin, is in the British Museum in London. The campaign for their return to Greece has been going on for a long time and to no avail.