Editing Ancient Greek architecture (section)

==== Entablature and pediment ====
The columns of a temple support a structure that rises in two main stages, the [[entablature]] and the [[pediment]].

The entablature is the major horizontal structural element supporting the roof and encircling the entire building. It is composed of three parts. Resting on the columns is the [[architrave]] made of a series of stone "lintels" that spanned the space between the columns, and meet each other at a joint directly above the centre of each column.

Above the architrave is a second horizontal stage called the [[frieze]]. The frieze is one of the major decorative elements of the building and carries a sculptured relief. In the case of Ionic and Corinthian architecture, the relief decoration runs in a continuous band, but in the Doric order, it is divided into sections called [[metope]]s, which fill the spaces between vertical rectangular blocks called [[triglyph]]s. The triglyphs are vertically grooved like the Doric columns, and retain the form of the wooden beams that would once have supported the roof.

The upper band of the entablature is called the [[cornice]], which is generally ornately decorated on its lower edge. The cornice retains the shape of the beams that would once have supported the wooden roof at each end of the building. At the front and rear of each temple, the entablature supports a triangular structure called the pediment. The [[tympanum (architecture)|tympanum]] is the triangular space framed by the cornices and the location of the most significant sculptural decoration on the exterior of the building.