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Classical Architecture

Classical Architecture: Historical Places; Architecture History 101
  • The Architecture History 101 course is organized around individual monuments where each of these monument focus on a point about the principles and ideas behind architecture created in the ancient worlds.
  • Upon successful completion of this course, you should understand how architecture was used to convey ideas in the Ancient times. You should understand something about how its forms have been adapted and used for various social purposes for many centuries since. When you thoroughly understand how Ancient architecture worked in and for society, you will be able to make good use of it today.

The First Architecture ~ 2500 B.C.:

The focus of the course is on the famous places of the Ancient and Classical Architecture, mainly the principles and ideas that created architecture in ancient places such as Egypt, Mesopotamia,and megalithic Europe. This a fundamental course about how those principles were altered after c.600. This course is about architecture from the earliest forms of buildings human created up to the medieval era. 2550 BCE Historical Famous Places:

 

Great Wall of China

great wall of china

The Great Wall of China is one of the most famous monuments in the world; the sprawling wall that was built to block China off from outsiders and is 5,500 miles in length, sprawling over hills and plains, deserts and mountains. It is now a huge tourist draw and is under governmental protection from the destruction of the environment.


Hadrian’s wall, Northumbria

The History of Rome and Hadrian's Walls

Britain's biggest historic monument; Hadrian’s Wall in Northumbria is a 73 mile long wall across Britain that was constructed between 122 and 128 AD, roughly, by Emperor Hadrian of the Roman Empire. The wall was built in order to keep Roman lands in Britain secure from barbarians, i.e. anyone who wasn’t a part of the Roman Empire at the time.

Emperor Hadrian was obsessed with keeping the lands that his adoptive father Emperor Trajan had conquered and the wall was one way for him to manage this feat.


Colosseum Facts, Rome

Colosseum, Rome

The Colosseum in Rome is the greatest and most famous amphitheater of Roman times. It was built between 71 and 80 AD and was inaugurated by Titus. Improvements were made on it by Emperors Nerva and Trajan around the end of the 1st century. The Colosseum was used for gladiatorial matches, athletic games and during its time with the Christians, for things like passion plays; in short, the Colosseum was used primarily for the viewing of entertainment.


Trajans Column and Forum

Trajans Column

Trajan’s Column was built between 106 and 113 AD inside the Forum that was also erected for Emperor Trajan. The Column was built to commemorate Trajan’s victories in Dacia (Romania). It is also a history of Rome in the form of architecture as great battles and victories are displayed on the granite that the column is made from. Although erected in honor of Trajan, a statue of St. Peter was erected atop the pillar after the statue of Trajan disappeared in the Middle Ages.


Temple for Bel Marduk-Zeus, Baalbek

Ziggurat of Marduk

The town of Baalbek, Lebanon, is home to some extensive Roman ruins, including the temple for Zeus, which in its history also served as a temple for Bel, Marduk, and Jupiter, depending on who was worshipping in the temple at the time. The earliest construction of the temple was done by the Phoenicians who built it honor of Bel, the Sun God. The temple was later taken over and reconstructed in honor of Zeus and then hard on the heels of that takeover, Jupiter, in honor of the Romans taking over the area.


Maison Carree, Nimes

Maison Carree, Nimes

Maison Carree in Nimes was built in around 20 or 19 BCE, during the Roman urbanization of the Celtic’s land in southern France (Gaul). Maison Carree was one of several buildings done under Augustus’ rule.


Chaitya Hall, Karli

Chaitya Hall, Karli

Chaitya Hall was built between 50 and 70 AD in India. Unlike many other buildings that were built atop of or at least out of stone and earth, Chaitya Hall was built into a hill, carved and sculpted out of the rock itself and enhanced wooden timbers that so that the hall is modeled after earlier temples made from wood and bamboo.


Persepolis Persia

Persepolis Persia

Persepolis (Greek for Persian City) was the ornamental capital city that Cyrus the Great founded late in his life around 515 BCE. He wouldn’t live to see much of it built, but his predecessor Darius would and indeed built much of the city including terraces and the great palaces.


Olympia and Greek Temple of Zeus

The temple of Zeus at Olympia was one of the greatest temples in the Greek world, dedicated to the grandest god of the pantheon. It was built in the Doric order, as can be seen by its massive pillars and simple, yet elegant statues. The architect in charge was a man who lived in the city of Olympia named Libon and he built it to clearly be of the Doric style. The sculptor Pheidias, the same one who oversaw the work on the Parthenon, was also involved, building the huge statue of Zeus for the inside of the monument.


Parthenon, Ancient Athens

The Parthenon in Athens is one of the most famous pieces of architecture in Greece, a country with a lot of famous architecture. The Parthenon was built in honor of Athena, the patron Goddess of Athens who was honored for saving Athens from destruction during the Persian wars. Parthenon actually means ‘virgin’; the full name of the temple is the Temple of the Virgin Athena. It was meant to house a forty foot tall statue sculpted and designed by Pheidas.


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by Dr. Radut.