Sunday, October 30, 2016

Propylaea

Propylaea 

Propylaea or Propylaia, means any entrance or gate to a tamale an Acropolis Rock in the ancient Greece era. The ancient Greek built the Propylaea and designed them as guides to lead visitors to destinations in the building in a certain way. The Acropolis meant a lot to them and they designed it beautifully and they also were so precise about the circulation and the movement of people. The Propylaea’s are usually on top of a hill and there is a ramp leads all the way up to it. “The Propylaia is a building of the Doric order with few Ionic columns supporting the roof of the central wing. It was a complex structure to conceive and assemble, and was clearly designed to make a lasting impression for the approaching visitor.” Ancient-Greece.org


There are a lot of propylaea’s in there and we can focus in the most important ones. for example, The Propylaea of Athens that was built in c. 437 BCE as part of Pericles great rebuilding programme for Athens. the building is separated to three parts, the first is Pinakohtake, the second is the Propylaea, and the third is The tamale of Athena Nike. There are 24 Doric and Ionic columns located in three different parts of the building. The main 12 big


Doric columns are placed horizontally in the front divided to six on the lower level, three on the right of the entrance and other three on the left, and once you step up the stairs inside the building there will be other six organized in the same way of the previous ones.  Beside the Doric columns, the Ionic columns are aliened vertically in your way stepping inside the building three to the right and other three on the left. as Mark explained the measurement and circulation in his article that says “The principal entrance to the acropolis had always been on the west side of the escarpment since Mycenaean times and the Propylaea was built on the exact site of the Old Propylon (a modest columned porch) built from 490 BCE and destroyed by the Persians in 480 BCE. Constructed with white Pentellic marble, the new Propylaea lies on an east-west axis and was designed to mirror the architectural style and proportions of the nearby Parthenon. A steep bank 80 meters long and 10 meters wide (with steps added under Claudius c. 52 CE) leads up to the Propylaea which consists of a central porch in the style of a Doric temple with a six Doric columns façade, a corridor with three Ionic columns either side and another six Doric columns on the west side exit. Independent wings stand on either side of the porch and it is the inner chambers of these annexes which were the part of the original project left unfinished. One of these wings, the Pinakotheke, measures 10.75 by 9 meters and was originally planned to be a gallery for art and a place for banqueting. The Propylaea actually provided five entrances, four for pedestrians and one larger central entrance for wheeled traffic and the coffered roof interior had a design in gold stars and palmettes on a blue background.” Mark Cartwright, Ancient History Encyclopedia


In this way, we can see the details of the building that is still very inspiring and shows us how great was the ancient Greece architecture. In addition, this design had a strong influence at that time and we also can find a lot of similarities in most of the other propylaea’s that were built in the time of ancient Greece. The materials are heavy and solid as well as the circulation and organization that it makes. 


References:

http://ancient-greece.org/architecture/propylaia.html

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