The temple's top components were often composed of mud brick and wood, while the building's platform was made of cut masonry. Columns were carved from local stone, most commonly limestone or tufa; in many older temples, columns were built of wood. The roof was made of pine boards attached with wooden pegs driven through the board and into the wall.
The walls inside ancient Greek buildings were usually made of mud brick covered with plaster. The bricks were held together with a lime-based paste that also served to keep them water-tight. When the Greeks built their structures out of stone, they usually used mud brick as a cheaper alternative. Windows, where present, were usually made of oiled paper or linen cloth.
People didn't have bathrooms back then so they used toilets that were similar to modern-day toilets: a hole in the ground with some rocks on it. They kept their houses very clean, though. There were no bathrooms in the house itself but there were outdoor toilets called "latrines". They were usually just a hollow space under some bushes where people could go to be alone - something like our public restrooms today. If you went outside your house, you would find this spot next to your door where everyone could see what you did after you came from going number one.
Inside the house you would find rooms for eating and living.
The early temples were generally made of mud, brick, and marble, with stone foundations. The columns and superstructure (entablature) were made of wood, as were the entrance apertures and antae. In a half-timbered style, the mud-brick walls were frequently strengthened by wooden posts. The roofs were thatched or covered with bronze tiles.
Later rulers built with stone, which was more durable and easier to work with. The ancient Greeks also used marble and granite for some buildings. But mostly they used limestone. This is what you find all over Greece today; in fact, it's the main ingredient in Greek cement!
Limestone needs to be carved before it can be used for building, so many builders of the time were carvers too. They sat at their tables with chisels and knives, creating beauty from death.
After carving, the blocks were taken to the site where they would be used for building. Sometimes workers built up the sides of a pit to use as a foundation for the wall of the building. When that wasn't possible, the builder would use timber props to hold up the weight of the rock while he worked.
Greek architecture developed along several different paths between 700 and 300 B.C., so there aren't any one specific building types solely attributable to the Greeks.
Many temples, like the Parthenon in Athens, were built using marble, including Pentelic marble and marble from the Cycladic island of Paros. Some modern architects use column design as a guide for building structures that require structural support with little intrusion into the space they enclose.
Greek columns were used to support roofs or ceilings, to hold up doors or windows, or simply to give an entrance hall, porch, or temple its appearance. They were an important part of the architecture of ancient Greece. The word "column" comes from the Latin word columna, which means "cylinder".
The Greeks used various materials for their columns, such as marble, wood, bronze, and even silver. But the most popular material by far was limestone. Limestone is soft, breaks down over time, and is relatively easy to work with. It's also one of the only materials that's available in large quantities in any form needed for construction projects. A quarry would dig out a piece of limestone and cut it into pieces small enough to transport home. Then it would be shaped using tools such as axes and chisels to make it perfect on both the inside and outside.
Materials The Greeks clearly preferred marble, at least for public structures. Initially, however, wood would have been used not just for fundamental architectural features such as columns, but also for the whole structure. Temples with thatched roofs were built in the early eighth century BCE. They were very simple and probably only intended to provide cover for the priests who administered the sacrifices inside.
The first stone temples are believed to have been built around 530 BCE. At this time, Corinth was already using stone for some of its buildings. It is possible that a group of Corinthians decided to copy an existing example of stone architecture. Alternatively, they may have had contact with people from Egypt, where stone construction was common at this time.
The Egyptians influenced other cultures through their military campaigns, but it is unlikely that they ever learned how to build in stone from the Greeks. Instead, it may be that after seeing the impressive monuments of Egypt, the Greeks decided to copy them. Perhaps some Greek architects went to work in Egypt building pyramids and tombs to order, or perhaps there were foreign architects working in Egypt who helped the Greeks develop their own style of stone architecture.
After about 500 BCE, limestone became available in large quantities in Greece, which led to its adoption as the main building material. Limestone can be worked on a large scale and does not need special tools or techniques to construct with. It is easy to carve and even easier to polish.
Any structure with columns, such as the White House, may trace its architectural style back to ancient Greece. The ancient Greeks constructed gigantic temples to the gods out of limestone, marble, and clay. They also used columns to support heavy roofs.
When the Romans invaded Greece, they incorporated many of the existing buildings into their own infrastructure, including water systems, roads, and public buildings. One of these buildings is the Temple of Zeus in Olympia, which is now on display at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.
The White House was built from 1792 to 1797 by French-born architect Pierre L'Enfant. It is estimated that between 4,000 and 5,000 pieces of marble were used in its construction. When it was first completed, the White House was considered one of the most elegant houses in America. Today, it is regarded as an important example of Federal architecture.
In 2001, a group of historians led by Ron Chernow proposed that George Washington had Greek architects import materials for the White House building project. They claimed this could only have happened if you consider the fact that the United States was not yet a country when the project began. Even so, this is just a suggestion, and not proof that Greek architects designed the White House.
While some stone columns were cut in one piece, as structures became larger, columns began to be built from individual drums. These were separately carved and joined together in the center of the drum with a wooden dowel or metal peg. The ends of the column were sometimes slightly tapered to provide stability.
The Greeks were among the first people to use this construction method for their pillars. They used local limestone but also imported Egyptian granite for certain types of monuments. The Egyptians had been using this technique for centuries before it was adopted by the Greeks.
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed of compacted shells of marine organisms such as corals, mollusks, and fossilized plants. It is soft and can be easily worked when raw; however, like any other stone, it needs to be cleaned prior to polishing or painting. Painting on a bare limestone surface will not last long because the paint will wash off due to rain or snow. Limestone is used for outdoor decorative purposes such as garden statues and fountains because it weathers naturally to look like marble or bronze.
Granite is a hard, dense form of quartz that occurs in large blocks or granular particles within earth's crust. Although most granite comes from India, Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey), and North America, there are also small deposits in Africa and Australia.
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