Cast your eyes around most major Western cities and you’ll find a reinterpretation of Classical Greek architecture. The Renaissance was inspired by the ancient style, as were the neoclassical movement and the British Greek Revival. For those with an eye to the past, part of the allure of Greece is the sheer volume of its well-preserved temples. Stand in the ruins of the Parthenon, and with a little imagination it's easy to transport yourself back to classical 5th-century Greece.
Most of our knowledge of Greek architecture proper begins at around 2000 BC with the Minoans, who were based in Crete but whose influence spread throughout the Aegean to include the Cyclades. Minoan architects are famous for having constructed technologically advanced, labyrinthine palace complexes. The famous site at Knossos is one of the largest. Usually characterised as 'palaces', these sites were in fact multifunctional settlements that were the primary residences of royalty and priests, but housed some plebs too. Large Minoan villages, such as those of Gournia and Palekastro in Crete, also included internal networks of paved roads that extended throughout the countryside to link the settlements with the palaces. More Minoan palace-era sophistication exists at Phaestos, Malia and Ancient Zakros also in Crete, and at the Minoan outpost of Ancient Akrotiri on the south of Santorini.
Several gigantic volcanic eruptions rocked the region in the mid-15th century BC, causing geological ripple effects that at the very least caused big chunks of palace to fall to the ground. The Minoans resolutely rebuilt their crumbling palaces on an even grander scale, only to have more natural disasters wipe them out again. The latter effected an architectural chasm that was filled by the emerging Mycenaean rivals on mainland Greece.
According to myth, the man tasked with designing a maze to withhold the dreaded Minotaur was famous Athenian inventor Daedalus, father of Icarus. He also designed the Palace of Knossos for King Minos.
First discovered by a Cretan, Milos Kalokairinos, in 1878, it wasn't until 1900 that the ruins of Knossos were unearthed by Englishman Sir Arthur Evans. The elaborate palace complex at Knossos was originally formed largely as an administrative settlement surrounding the main palace, which comprised the main buildings arranged around a large central courtyard (1250 sq metres). Over time the entire settlement was rebuilt and extended. Long, raised causeways formed main corridors; narrow labyrinthine chambers flanked the palace walls (this meandering floor plan, together with the graphic ritual importance of bulls, inspired the myth of the labyrinth and the Minotaur). The compound featured strategically placed interior light-wells, sophisticated ventilation systems, aqueducts, freshwater irrigation wells and bathrooms with extensive plumbing and drainage systems. The ground levels consisted mostly of workshops, cylindrical grain silos and storage magazines.
Thanks to its restoration, today's Knossos is one of the easiest ruins for your imagination to take hold of.
Pyrgi See the medieval, labyrinthine, vaulted island village of Pyrgi in Chios, for its unique Genoese designs of intricate, geometric, grey-and-white facades.
Oia Squint at the volcanic rock-hewn clifftop village of Oia in Santorini, with its dazzlingly whitewashed island streetscapes and homes.
Lefkada Town Discover the strangely attractive wooden-framed houses of Lefkada Town: the lower floors are panelled in wood, while the upper floors are lined in painted sheet metal or corrugated iron.
Rhodes Old Town Wander through this medieval walled town, where the sunshine turns the cobbled streets a honey hue.
Halki Stay in tower houses, the traditional homes of sea captains, with views of returning vessels.
The classical age (5th to 4th centuries BC) is when most Greek architectural clichés converge. This is when temples became characterised by the famous orders of columns, particularly the Doric, Ionic and Corinthian.
The mother of all Doric structures is the 5th century BC Parthenon, the ultimate in architectural bling: a gleaming, solid marble crown. To this day, it's probably the most obsessively photographed jewel in all of Greece.
In the meantime, the Greek colonies of the Asia Minor coast were creating their own Ionic order, designing a column base in several tiers and adding more flutes. This more graceful order's capital (the head) received an ornamented necking, and Iktinos fused elements of its design in the Parthenon. This order is used on the Acropolis' Temple of Athena Nike and the Erechtheion, where the famous Caryatids regally stand.
Towards the tail end of the classical period, the Corinthian column was in limited vogue. Featuring a single or double row of ornate leafy scrolls (usually the very sculptural acanthus), the order was subsequently adopted by the Romans and used only on Corinthian temples in Athens. The Temple of Olympian Zeus, completed during Emperor Hadrian's reign, is a grand, imposing structure. Another temple design, the graceful, circular temple tholos (dome) style, was used for the great Sanctuary of Athena Pronea at Delphi.
The Greek theatre design is a hallmark of the classical period and had a round stage, radiating a semicircle of steeply banked stone benches that seated many thousands. Cleverly engineered acoustics meant every spectator could hear every syllable uttered on the stage below. Many ancient Greek theatres are still used for summer festivals, music concerts and plays.
Columns are columns are columns, right? Recognising the differences between them is, in fact, the easiest way to differentiate between the three distinct architectural orders of Ancient Greece.
Doric The most simple of the three styles. The shaft (the main part of the column) is plain and has 20 sides, while the capital (the head) is formed in a simple circle. Also, there's no base. An obvious example of this is the Parthenon.
Ionic Look out for the ridged flutes carved into the column from top to bottom. The capital is also distinctive for its scrolls, while the base looks like a stack of rings.
Corinthian The most decorative and popular of all three orders. The column is ridged; however, the distinctive feature is the capital's flowers and leaves, beneath a small scroll. The base is like that of the Ionic.
In the twilight years of the Classical Age (from about the late 4th century BC), cosmopolitan folk started to grow weary of temples, casting their gaze towards a more decadent urban style. The Hellenistic architect was in hot demand for private homes and palace makeovers as wealthy citizens, dignitaries and political heavyweights lavishly remodelled their abodes in marble, and striking mosaics were displayed as status symbols (read more bling). The best Hellenistic ancient home displays are the grand houses at Delos.
Church-building was particularly expressive during Byzantine rule in Greece (from around AD 700). The original Greek Byzantine model features a distinctive cross-shape; essentially a central dome supported by four arches on piers and flanked by vaults, with smaller domes at the four corners and three apses to the east. Theologian architects opted for spectacular devotional mosaics and frescoes instead of carvings for the stylistic religious interiors. In Athens, the very appealing 12th-century Church of Agios Eleftherios incorporates fragments of a classical frieze in Pentelic marble; the charming 11th-century Church of Kapnikarea sits stranded, smack bang in the middle of downtown Athens – its interior flooring is of coloured marble, and the external brickwork, which alternates with stone, is set in patterns.
Remarkably few monuments are left to catalogue after four centuries of Ottoman Turkish rule (16th to 19th centuries). Though many mosques and their minarets have sadly crumbled or are in serious disrepair, some terrific Ottoman–Turkish examples still survive. These include the prominent pink-domed Mosque of Süleyman in Rhodes' Old Town. The Fethiye Mosque and Turkish Baths are two of Athens' few surviving Ottoman reminders.
Regarded by experts as the most beautiful neoclassical building worldwide, the 1885 Athens Academy reflects Greece's post-independence yearnings for grand and geometric forms, and Hellenistic detail. Renowned Danish architect Theophile Hansen drew inspiration from the Erechtheion to design the Academy's Ionic–style column entrance (guarded over by Apollo and Athena); the great interior oblong hall is lined with marble seating, and Austrian painter Christian Griepenkerl was commissioned to decorate its elaborate ceiling and wall paintings. In a similar vein, the Doric columns of the Temple of Hephaestus influenced Theophile's solid marble National Library, while Christian Hansen (Theophile's brother) was responsible for the handsome but more sedate Athens University, with its clean lines.
Meticulously restored neoclassical mansions house notable museums such as the acclaimed Benaki Museum.
Many provincial towns also display beautiful domestic adaptations of neoclassicism. In Symi, the harbour at Gialos is flanked by colourful neoclassical facades (still striking, even if a little derelict).
During the 17th century, Greek ship captains grew increasingly prosperous. Many of them poured their new-found wealth into building lofty homes that towered over the traditional village houses. These captains' houses are now dotted throughout the islands, and many have been given a new lease on life as boutique hotels or restaurants.
While the size of the house often reflected the wealth of a captain, some of the smallest of these 400-year-old homes are the most grand. Captains' houses didn't need to be large as their owners spent so much time at sea. Whitewashed walls stretch upward to the soaring resin ceiling, often intricately painted with elaborate, colourful patterns. The windows are sea-facing and placed very high, often with wooden lofts to reach them. This was to let the heat out in summer and also so the captain's wife could watch the sea for the arrival of her husband's ship. The traditional stone doorways, or pyliones, are hand-carved with symbolic pictures. Corn means good harvest, birds mean peace, the cross brings safety and the sunflowers sunlight. The number of ropes carved around the perimeter of the door shows how many ships the captain had.
Some of the finest examples of these houses are found in Lindos, on Rhodes.
Athens today is embracing a sophisticated look-both-ways architectural aesthetic by showcasing its vast collection of antiquities and archaeological heritage in evolutionary buildings, and by beautifying landscapes for pedestrian zones to improve the urban environment. Examples include the well-designed facelift of the historic centre, including its spectacular floodlighting (designed by the renowned Pierre Bideau) of the ancient promenade, and the cutting-edge spaces emerging from once-drab and derelict industrial zones, such as the Technopolis gasworks arts complex in Gazi.
Despite its massive contribution to ancient architecture, Athens is not stuck in the past. Its modern architects are innovative and fearless.
Acropolis Museum This relatively new space houses Greece's antiquities. Designed by Bernard Tschumi, the museum features an internal glass cella (inner room) mirroring the Parthenon, with the same number of columns (clad in steel) and a glass floor overlooking excavated ruins in situ.
Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC) The Pritzker Prize–winning architect Renzo Piano designed the SNFCC, which opened in 2016. A multifunctional arts and entertainment venue, it houses the National Library of Greece and the National Opera amid natural surroundings that link the centre's park (at the old horse-racing tracks in Faliro) with the sea.
Planetarium This is one of the world's largest digital hemispherical domes, with a dome-diameter of 25 metres. It provides 360-degree 3D virtual rides through the galaxy in a space the size of two-and-a-half basketball courts.
Athens Olympic Complex Designed by well-known Spanish architect Santiago Calatrata to house the 2004 Olympics, this complex has a striking, ultra-modern glass-and-steel roof, which is suspended by cables from large arches. The laminated glass, in the shape of two giant leaves, is capable of reflecting 90% of the sunlight.
National Museum of Contemporary Art The abandoned FIX brewery in central Athens has been hollowed out and renovated to create 20,000 sq metres of space to house the gallery. Built in the 1950s, the building retains much of its post-war industrial architecture, including the horizontal feel achieved with lateral linear glass, while one side of the facade has been covered in stone reminiscent of the riverbed that was once here. Inside, it's all about glass and light, with a sculpture garden on the roof.