Corinthian Columns - Greek architecture for kids -

Corinthian Columns

Corinthian Capital
(from the Pantheon in Rome)

By 400 BC, the Greeks had added a third type of column to the old Doric and Ionic styles. This was called the Corinthian column, after the city of Corinth. The Greeks never actually used the Corinthian column that much, but the Romans used it a lot.

Corinthian order
Roman temple in the Corinthian style,
at Nimes in southern France.

The Corinthian style is fancier and heavier than the Ionic style. In Corinthian temples, the columns have a fancier base to stand on. At the top of the columns, on the capital, there's a stone carving of acanthus leaves, under the architrave (ARR-kuh-trayv). On the architrave, as in Ionic temples, there is a continuous frieze where the triglyphs and metopes would be on a Doric temple.

One example of a Corinthian temple is the Pantheon. Another is the Temple of Castor in the Roman forum.

Doric Architecture
Ionic Architecture

To find out more about Greek architectural orders, check out these books on Amazon or in your library:

Ancient Greek Architects at Work, by J. J. Coulton (1982). An interesting look at how Greek architects worked.

Greek Architecture, by A. W. Lawrence, R. A. Tomlinson (5th edition 1996). Might be a bit out of date.

Main Greek Architecture page
Main Roman Architecture page
Ancient Greece
Ancient Rome
Kidipede home page


Cite this page: Carr, Karen (PhD).

Kidipede - History for Kids. 2012.
http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/greeks/architecture/corinthian.htm