At the top of a capital, a thick rectangular slab of stone that serves as the flat, broad surface on which the architrave rests.
The upper most part of a column, usually shaped to articulate the joint with the lintel or arch supported; in Classical types, comprising an abacus, echinus, and other carved detail.
The body and main sanctuary of a Classical temple, as distinct from its portico and other external parts; sometimes used synonymously with naos, the principle room of a temple where the cult statue is housed.
A part of a building that rises above adjoining rooftops and is pierced by window openings to admit light to the interior
A vertical, usually cylindrical, support, commonly consisting of a base, shaft, and capital; in Classical architecture, its parts are governed by proportional rules.
The uppermost, projecting portion of an entablature; also the crowning horizontal molding of a building or wall.
The column and entablature developed on mainland Greece; the fluted columnar shaft is without a base; its capital is an abacus above a simple cushionlike molding (echinus). The entablature has a plain architrave, a frieze composed of metopes and triglyphs, and a cornice with projecting blocks (mutules). In Roman Doric, the column is slimmer that the Greek prototype, is unfluted, and stands on a low base; the capital is smaller.
A convex, cushionlike molding between the shaft and the abacus in the Doric or Tuscan order; in an Ionic capital, found beneath the volutes, generally in decorated form
The shallow concave channels cut vertically into the shaft of a column or pilaster. In Doric columns, they meet in a sharp edge (arris); in Ionic, Corinthian, and Composite columns, they are separated by a narrow strip.
Beneath each triglyph in a Doric entablature, small conical projections that may represent the wooden pegs used in the timber prototypes of the Greek temple.
One of the five classical orders, the Ionic is characterized by a scroll-shaped (voluted) capital element, the presence of dentils in the cornice, and a frieze that might contain continuous relief ornament.
In the frieze of a Doric Order, the rectangular area between triglyphs; often left plain but sometimes decorated with relief ornament.
A stone pillar, typically having a square or rectangular cross section and a pyramidal top, set up as a monument or landmark.
In ancient Egyptian architecture, the sloping, towerlike walls flanking the entrance to a temple.
The principle hall of an Aegean dwelling, oblong in shape and sometimes subdivided into a larger and smaller section by a range of columns; thought to be the ancestor of the Greek temple plan.
A classical temple having columns across the front, set in a line forward on the side walls of the cella.
A architectural system using a horizontal beam over supports, as opposed to an arched or arcuated system; synonymous with post and lintel.
A square beam that is the lowest of the three horizontal components of a Classical entablature
Recessed panels, square or polygonal, that ornament a vault, ceiling, or the underside (soffit) of an arch.
Masonry constructed over a wall opening be a series of courses projecting from each side and stepped progressively further forward until they meet at midpoint; not a true arch.
A prehistoric monument composed of two large stones placed upright with a covering stone slab, forming chamber.
1. The cylindrical or polygonal wall supporting a dome. 2. One of the cylindrical sections comprising the shaft of a column.
The slight swelling of the vertical profile of a Classical column as it tapers towards the top to counteract the illusion of concavity that accompanies straight-sided columns.
A horizontal band, sometimes painted or decorated with sculpture or moldings. It may run along the upper portion of a wall just beneath a cornice or it may be that part of a Classical entablature that lies between the architrave and cornice. A Doric frieze often has continuous relief sculpture.
A structure-usually a large hall-in which the roof is supported by many rows of columns. The term is frequently applied to ancient Egyptian temples.
Derived from the Arabic word meaning "bench," mastaba refers to a type of Egyptian tomb, rectangular in shape and formed with sloping sides and a flat top, with a passage leading to an underground burial chamber.
Mortise and Tenon
A method of wood joining whereby a board formed with a projecting tongue (tenon) is fitted into a board hole (mortise) of corresponding shape.
A narrow ringlike molding between the bottom of a capital and the top of the shaft of a column
A massive vertical support often rectangular in plan and therefore differing from a column, sometimes having its own capital and base. When combined with pilasters, columns, or shafts, it is called a compound pier. Its proportions are far more variable than a Classical column. Pier is also the term used for the solid mass between windows, doors, and arches.
Post and Lintel
A system of construction in which two or more uprights support a horizontal beam; also called trabeated.
either of two straight, sloping cornices on a pediment following or suggesting the slopes of a roof
The continuous platform of masonry on which a colonnade rests; the uppermost level of the stepped base (crepidoma) of a Greek temple.
In Greek architecture, a circular building; also in Mycenaean architecture, a circular tomb of beehive shape.
In a Doric frieze, the projecting block marked by vertical grooves (glyphs) between the rectangular areas known as metopes.
Constructed without mortar of irregular stones so hugh it was late believed to be the work of a mythical race of giants called Cyclopes.