Origins
The earliest Greek Sanctuaries probably did not contain temple buildings, though our knowledge of these is limited since many of these were destroyed, and the subject is … See more

To loosen up the mathematical strictness and to counteract distortions of human visual perception, a slight curvature of the whole building, hardly visible with the naked eye, was … See more

Cult statue and naos
The functions of the temple mainly concentrated on the naos, the "dwelling" of the cult statue. The elaboration of the temple's external … See more

Canonical Greek temples maintained the same basic structure throughout many centuries. The Greeks used a limited number of spatial … See more

Proportions
The foundations of Greek temples could reach dimensions of up to 115 by 55 m, i.e. the size of an average football pitch. Columns could reach a height of 20 m. To design such large architectural bodies harmoniously, a … See more

Colouring
Only three basic colours were used: white, blue and red, occasionally also black. The crepidoma, columns, and architrave were mostly white. Only … See more

Public and private sponsors
The sponsors of Greek temples usually belonged to one of two groups: on the one hand public sponsors, including the bodies and institutions that administrated important sanctuaries; on the other hand influential and … See more