The Classical Architectural Orders: Ionic

Classical temples usually subscribed to one of three architectural orders. Here, we look at the Ionic order.

The Ionic order was one of 3 major orders of Classical architecture, including Doric and Corinthian. The Ionic order first appeared in Ionia (Ionia was located on the SW coastal islands of Asia Minor settled by Greeks who spoke an Ionian dialect)in the mid 6th century B.C. The order moved to the mainland of Greece in the 5th century B.C.

The Ionic order featured columns that sat on a base that separated the column shaft from the platform, or stylobate, upon which the colun sat. The column capital featured scrolled volutes, or spirals, and the column themselves were very slender and often fluted. The entablature on the columns was in 3 parts: an architrave (a lintel or beam that rests on the column capitals), a frieze, often decorated with bas relief (very raised) sculpture, and a cornice that featured dentils, a crown, and molding to cap it off.

The first great example of an Ionic temple was the Temple of Hear at Samos, built about 560 B.C., but destroyed by earthquake a mere 10 years later. Other fine examples of the Ionic order was the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus and the Erechtheum on the Athenian Acropolis.

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