Ancient Greek temples were known as the home of the Greek gods and the goddesses. The Greek people believed that their gods protected them, through all natural calamities and also helped to sustain their community.

Ancient Greek Temples

The Greek people wanted to please their gods, so the temple was equipped with a staff of servants, to look after the needs of gods. People offered daily offerings of food and drinks, their share of profits, the share of the harvest and so on.

Construction Materials

Marbles and limestones were used for constructing the columns, upper portions of the temples and public buildings. For decorations, the Greeks used bronze and other metals and terracotta was used for the roof tiles. Greek temples were built according to some set rules, depending on the dimensions of the foundation levels.

Ancient Greek Temples Design

Greek temples were painted using blues and reds against white stone backgrounds. The finance for the temple construction was sponsored by cities or by the administrations and Hellenistic rulers.

A temple was built in the form of a house, found in Bronze Age, known as megaron. In the center of the temple, was a rectangular room called cella with a porch called promos. The promos had projecting walls called antae. At the back of the cella was a special area called Adyton, which was only accessible to the priests and not to the general public.

Architecture of Buildings

The roof of the building was supported by two or more columns. The building was constructed on a low platform named stylobate. The first temple such as Lefkandi was built out of wood but later on, it was replaced by stone. The great statues of Zeus at Olympia or Parthenon in Athens were made of ivory and gold.

The priests were only allowed in Adyton, where they performed the rituals on behalf of the community. The temple was build inside a sacred area, called temenos which had a spring, a bunch of trees, caves and so on. This is the area where the general public was allowed to contribute in the ancient Greek temples. The public offered gifts like jewelry, cutlery of gold and silver and so on.