In the Greek city, the public place where citizens’ assemblies were held.  Describes the political hub of the city.

ARCHITRAVE

Beam or lintel resting on supports (columns or pillars) and forming the lower part of an entablature.

BOULEUTERION

A meeting hall where the council (or boule) of a Greek city would sit.  An area designed for political assemblies.

BRONZE AGE

The period characterized by the use of bronze- working; in the Mediterranean, between the 3rd and 2nd millennia B.C.

CAPITAL

Decorative feature surmounting the shaft of a column or pillar on which the architrave rests.  The capital consists of an echinus or basket which supports an abacus.  Its decoration is governed by the Classical orders.

CARYATID

In architecture, a support in the form of a female status  According to Vitruvius, the name derives from the women of Caryae, who were reduced to slavery as a punishment for having collaborated with the Persians.

CELLA

The main body of an ancient temple which, in addi tion to the naos, housing the statue of the deity, also contains a pronaos forming the vestibule, an opisthodomos at the chevet, and in some cases an adytum, or secret area, and a treasury.

CORBELLED VAULT

Describes a vault made with horizontal courses, one jutting out beyond the last.  The corbelled vault is a false vault.

CORINTHIAN

Architectural order characterized in particular by the capital with a basket decorated with acanthus leaves and horns of plenty at the corners.

COURSE

In the stonework of a wall, a horizontal row of blocks of the same height.   

CURTAIN WALL 

Straight section of a wall in a city wall, situated between two projecting towers.

CYCLOPEAN 

Describes the stonework of a colossal wall, built with huge, irregular blocks.

DECASTYLE

Architectural term describing a building whose fa cade has 10 columns.

DENTILS

Decorative features formed by a series of cubic teeth, 

set apart, embellishing a cornice.

DIPTERAL

Describes a building surrounded by a double row of peripteral columns.

DORIC

One of the Greek orders characterized by columns with no base, a capital consisting of necking grooves, an echinus, and an abacus.

DROMOS

Describes the access corridor—in a stair cavity lined with tall walls—of a domed Mycenaean tomb.

DRUM

Cylindrical element forming the shaft of a column.  Its diameter is always greater than its height.

ECHINUS

Main part of the Doric capital in the form of a small cushion or bell.

ENTABLATURE

In classical architecture, the various horizontal parts which surmount the supports (columns or pillars).  From bottom to top it consists of the architrave, the frieze, and the cornice.

FLUTES

Vertical and parallel grooves which decorate the surface of the cylindrical shaft of a column.

HEXASTYLE

A building whose facade has 6 columns.

HYPAETHRAL

An enclosed, but open-roofed, area.

HYPOSTYLE (area) 

An area whose roof is supported by rows of columns or pillars.

INTRADOS

Concave inner surface of an arch or vault.

IONIC (order)

An order characterized principally by slender columns with a base, a capital embellished by volutes, and an entablature with a continuous frieze.

LINTEL

Horizontal load-bearing features in stone or wood surmounting an aperture.

MEGARON

Main room of the Mycenaean palace, comprising the hearth and the throne, preceded by a vestibule and an inner courtyard.

METOPE

Panel, often sculpted, alternating with the triglyphs in the Doric frieze.

MONOPTERAL

A round temple (tholos) with a single row of outer columns which support the roof.

NAOS

An inner area containing the divine statue.  The holiest part of the cella of the temple.

OCTOSTYLE

A building whose facade has 8 columns.

OPISTHODOMOS

The area in the rear part of the cella of a temple.

ORCHESTRA

In Greek theatres, the round area situated at the bottom 

of the tiers, in front of the stage.

ORDERS

In ancient architecture, various structural systems for organizing the proportions of buildings in Doric, Ionic or Corinthian style.  Also, a modular system applied to the elevation of a building and its supports,

in particular the columns and pilasters with their bases, capitals and entablatures.

PERIPTERAL

A temple surrounded on all sides by a row of columns, forming a peristyle.

PERISTYLE

Colonnade surrounding a building.  The outer peristyle corresponds to the peripteral colonnade.

PILASTER

Pillar engaged or embedded in the stonework of a wall, from which it projects.  It usually has a base and a capital.

PILLAR

Vertical stonework support, square, rectangular or cross-shaped, which usually has a base and a capital.

POLIS

In Greek, means, literally, the city.

POLYGONAL (wall)

A type of ancient structure formed by large irregular blocks, carefully put together.  Often confused with the cyclopean structure, which is less rigorous.

PORTICO

Alignment of vertical supports connected by lintels or arches.  The portico forms an open gallery on the long side of a building.

PRONAOS

The room or vestibule which precedes the naos of a temple

PROPYLAEUM

Monumental porch, often with a colonnaded facade, giving access to a Greek sanctuary.

PROSCENIUM

The stage in an ancient theatre.

PROSTYLE

A temple which only has columns on its front facade.

ROUGH HEWING

Cutting of a block of stone by roughly hewing the faces which will then be dressed and sculpted.

STOA

A portico supported by columns.

STYLOBATE

The foundation on which the columns of a building are set.

TEMENOS

Enclosure dedicated to the gods; area surrounding a temple.

TERASTYLE

Building whose facade has 4 columns.

THOLOS

A temple whose plan is round and elevation cylindrical.

TRIGLYPH

Decorative feature of the Doric frieze, which represents the end of a wooden beam, decorated with two vertical grooves, or glyphs, and bordered by two hemiglyphs.

TRUSSES

Timbers joined by a roof ridge, forming the system which supports the roof covering.