# Anyone have any expertise in Greek temples? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 10, 2008, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-have-any-expertise-in-greek-temples/432930 "2008-01-10T01:54:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Key\_Lime\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/48db29/32.png) [@Key\_Lime\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Key_Lime_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-have-any-expertise-in-greek-temples/432930/1 "2008-01-10T01:54:59Z")
[The temple at Segesta](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segesta) is a curiosity because it is apparently unfinished and was never ruined or mined for salvage. What’s bothering me is the absence of a cella (the interior chamber). I can’t dream up a reasonable answer for why they would build a complete perimeter colonnade _first_, and then try to bring the interior stones later (either through the columns or hoisted overhead). Am I missing something obvious? Was the cella built ‘last’ in other Greek temples? If so, why? ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-have-any-expertise-in-greek-temples/432930/2 "2008-01-10T03:03:48Z")
Huh. Good question. I know there is (was?) a classical art historian on here but I have some thoughts. Ye old Coulton’s “Ancient Greek Architects at Work” is in a box at the bottom of a pile of boxes, but. . . the plan on wikimedia does have a cella structure dotted in. . . and well, since the roof/ceiling will be supported mainly by the peristyle in the end perhaps they’d do it and stick a roof over the cella construction in progress?. . . oh, hell. Good question. I’ll see if I can dig that book out tomorrow and if it helps. In one of those wikimedia media images they don’t seem to have put in ‘floor level’ yet (the bottom slab of the doric columns are square–I figure these will wind up level with the floor?–and another image shows the outside edges of the stereobate ready to be fitted with another course. Interesting snapshot of a construction moment. I suppose the thing is its own evidence-- apparently they DID start with the peristyle? The columns are really pretty darn far apart-- if the stones are too wide to fit through those gaps, their width is the least of the masons’ problems? ---
**Author:** ![CJJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@CJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-have-any-expertise-in-greek-temples/432930/3 "2008-01-10T04:46:10Z")
Careful study of existing Greek temples and inscriptions related to their construction has led scholars to conclude that the key step in the design process was determining the size and proportion of the columns (the width of the average column base in fact determines most of the other major dimensions of the structure). This is because there was no mathematical physics, so architects couldn’t experiment on paper with designs; they had only the success or failure of other building projects to guide them in building a new temple. And since no city wants an exact copy of another city’s temple, architects were always tempted to tinker with designs, hoping that they understood the traditional rules enough to make wise decisions. It therefore makes some sense to begin with the columns and place the lintels/architrave first. As this was the most difficult part of the building to get right, if it’s going to collapse you’d rather have it occur early in the project than late (when it could destroy the nais–or worse, any nearby sculpture).