Editing Ancient Greek architecture (section)

=== Types of buildings ===
{{Main|Ancient Greek temple|Ancient Greek theatre|Acropolis|Agora|Stoa}}

==== Domestic buildings ====
The Greek word for the family or household, ''[[oikos]]'', is also the name for the house. Houses followed several different types. It is probable that many of the earliest houses were simple structures of two rooms, with an open porch or [[pronaos]], above which rose a low pitched gable or [[pediment]].<ref name="BF3" /> This form is thought to have contributed to temple architecture.

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|image1    =Ancient Greek plan House of Colline Delos.JPG
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|caption1  = Plan of the House of Colline, 2nd century BC
|image2    =House of the Masks 03.jpg
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|caption2  = The House of Masks, Delos, 3rd century BC
|image3    = House of the Masks 02.jpg
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|caption3  = The House of Masks
|image4    = Delos cubic floor mosaic.jpg
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|caption4  = The [[mosaic]] floor [[Mosaics of Delos|of a house at Delos]]
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The construction of many houses employed walls of sun-dried clay bricks or wooden framework filled with fibrous material such as straw or seaweed covered with clay or plaster, on a base of stone which protected the more vulnerable elements from damp.<ref name="Boardman1" /> The roofs were probably of thatch with eaves which overhung the permeable walls. Many larger houses, such as those at Delos, were built of stone and plastered. The roofing material for the substantial house was tile. Houses of the wealthy had mosaic floors and demonstrated the Classical style.

Many houses centred on a wide passage or "pasta" which ran the length of the house and opened at one side onto a small courtyard which admitted light and air. Larger houses had a fully developed [[peristyle]] (courtyard) at the centre, with the rooms arranged around it. Some houses had an upper floor which appears to have been reserved for the use of the women of the family.<ref name=BF151>{{harvnb|Fletcher|1996|pp=151–153}}.</ref>

City houses were built with adjoining walls and were divided into small blocks by narrow streets. Shops were sometimes located in the rooms towards the street. City houses were inward-facing, with major openings looking onto the central courtyard, rather than the street.<ref name=BF3>{{harvnb|Fletcher|1996|pp=93–97}}.</ref>
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==== Public buildings ====
The rectangular [[Greek temple|temple]] is the most common and best-known form of Greek public architecture. This rectilinear structure borrows from the Late Helladic, Mycenaean [[megaron]], which contained a central throne room, vestibule, and porch.<ref>{{harvnb|Neer|2012}}.</ref> The temple did not serve the same function as a modern church, since the altar stood under the open sky in the ''[[temenos]]'' or sacred precinct, often directly before the temple. Temples served as the location of a [[cult image]] and as a storage place or strong room for the treasury associated with the cult of the god in question, and as a place for devotees of the god to leave their [[votive offering]]s, such as statues, helmets and weapons. Some Greek temples appear to have been oriented astronomically.<ref>{{harvnb|Penrose|1893|pp=42–43}}.</ref> The temple was generally part of a religious precinct known as the ''[[acropolis]]''. According to [[Aristotle]], "the site should be a spot seen far and wide, which gives good elevation to virtue and towers over the neighbourhood".<ref name="HG2" /> Small circular temples, ''[[Tholos (architecture)|tholoi]]'' were also constructed, as well as small temple-like buildings that served as treasuries for specific groups of donors.<ref>{{harvnb|Boardman|Dorig|Fuchs|Hirmer|1967|pp=49–50}}.</ref>

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| image1 = Greek street - III century BC - Porta Rosa - Velia - Italy.JPG
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| caption1 = Porta Rosa, a street (3rd century BC) [[Velia]], Italy
| image2 = Stoa of Attalos Athens Agora.JPG
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| caption2 = The reconstructed [[Stoa of Attalos]], the Agora, Athens
| image3 = Priene Bouleuterion 2009 04 28.jpg
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| caption3 = The Bouleuterion, at [[Priene]]
| image4 = Epidauros-Stadion-1.JPG
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| caption4 = The Stadium at [[Epidauros]]
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During the late 5th and 4th centuries BC, town planning became an important consideration of Greek builders, with towns such as [[Paestum]] and [[Priene]] being laid out with a regular grid of paved streets and an [[agora]] or central market place surrounded by a colonnade or [[stoa]]. The completely restored [[Stoa of Attalos]] can be seen in [[Athens]]. Towns were also equipped with a public fountain where water could be collected for household use. The development of regular town plans is associated with [[Hippodamus of Miletus]], a pupil of [[Pythagoras]].<ref name="Strong9" /><ref name="BF16" /><ref>{{harvnb|Moffett|Fazio|Wodehouse|2003|pp=62–64}}.</ref>

Public buildings became "dignified and gracious structures", and were sited so that they related to each other architecturally.<ref name=BF16>{{harvnb|Fletcher|1996|p=97}}.</ref> The [[propylon]] or porch, formed the entrance to temple sanctuaries and other significant sites with the best-surviving example being the [[Propylaea (Acropolis of Athens)|Propylaea on the Acropolis of Athens]]. The [[bouleuterion]] was a large public building with a [[hypostyle]] hall that served as a court house and as a meeting place for the town council ([[Boule (ancient Greece)|boule]]). Remnants of bouleuterion survive at Athens, Olympia and Miletus, the latter having held up to 1,200 people.<ref name=BF12>{{harvnb|Fletcher|1996|pp=147–148}}.</ref>

Every Greek town had an open-air [[theatre]]. These were used for both public meetings as well as dramatic performances. The theatre was usually set in a hillside outside the town, and had rows of tiered seating set in a semicircle around the central performance area, the ''orchestra''. Behind the orchestra was a low building called the ''[[Skene (theatre)|skênê]]'', which served as a store-room, a dressing room, and also as a backdrop to the action taking place in the orchestra. A [[List of ancient Greek theatres|number of Greek theatres]] survive almost intact, the best known being at [[Epidaurus]] by the architect [[Polykleitos the Younger]].<ref name=Strong9>{{harvnb|Strong|1965|pp=74–75}}.</ref>

Greek towns of substantial size also had a [[palaestra]] or a [[gymnasium (ancient Greece)|gymnasium]], the social centre for male citizens which included spectator areas, baths, toilets and club rooms.<ref name="BF12" /> Other buildings associated with sports include the [[hippodrome]] for horse racing, of which only remnants have survived, and the [[Stadium#Antiquity|stadium]] for foot racing, 600 feet in length, of which examples exist at Olympia, Delphi, Epidaurus and Ephesus, while the [[Panathinaiko Stadium]] in Athens, which seats 45,000 people, was restored in the 19th century and was used in the 1896, 1906 and 2004 [[Olympic Games]].<ref name="BF12" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Official Report 2004 vol. 2 |url=https://digital.la84.org/digital/collection/p17103coll8/id/43496/rec/84 |access-date=2023-08-13 |website=digital.la84.org |page=237 |language=en}}</ref>

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|image1    = Παλαίστρα Ολυμπίας (02).jpg
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|caption1  = The [[Palaestra]] at Olympia, used for boxing and wrestling
|image2    = Athen Akropolis (18512008726).jpg
|width2    = 200
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|caption2  = The [[Theatre of Dionysus]], Athens
|image3    = Ancient Olynthos Chalkidiki - Greece - 043.jpg
|width3    = 200
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|caption3  = Pebble mosaic floor of a house at Olynthos, depicting [[Bellerophon]]
|image4    = Siracusa, neapolis, ara di ierone II 04.JPG
|width4    = 200
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|caption4  = The altar of [[Hiero II]] at Syracuse
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