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ERECHTHEUM

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Originally appearing in Volume V09, Page 736 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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ERECHTHEUM , a See also:

temple (commonly called after See also:Erechtheus, to whom a portion of it was' dedicated) on the See also:acropolis at See also:Athens, unique in See also:plan, and in its See also:execution the most refined example of the Ionic See also:order. There is no clear See also:evidence as to when the See also:building was begun, some placing it among the temples projected by See also:Pericles, others assigning it to the See also:time after the See also:peace of See also:Nicias in 421 B.C. The See also:work was interrupted by the stress of the Peloponnesian See also:War, but in 409 B.C. a See also:commission was appointed to make a See also:report on the See also:state of the building and to undertake its completion,•which was carried out in the following See also:year. The See also:peculiar plan of the Erechtheum has given rise to much See also:speculation. It may be due partly to the natural conformation of the See also:rock and the See also:differences of level, partly to the See also:necessity of enclosing within a single building several See also:objects of See also:ancient sanctity, such as the See also:mark of See also:Poseidon's See also:trident and the See also:spring that arose from it, the sacred See also:olive See also:tree of See also:Athena, and the See also:tomb of See also:Cecrops. But there are some features which cannot be soexplained, and which have led See also:Professor W. Dorpfeld and others to believe that the plan, as we now have it, is a modification or abridgment of the See also:original See also:design, due to the same conservative influences as led to the curtailment of the plan of the See also:Propylaea (q.v.). The building as completed consisted of a temple of the See also:ordinary type, opening by a See also:door and two windows to the See also:east front, before which stood a See also:portico of six Ionic columns. This See also:part was the temple of Athena Polias. Adjoining it on the See also:west was the central chamber, on a See also:lower level; this chamber- was separated by a See also:partition, originally of See also:wood and later of See also:marble, from the western compartment of the temple, which was of peculiar construction. The west end was formed by a See also:wall, on which stood four columns between See also:antae; but the See also:main entrance to this western compartment was through a large and very ornate door-way on the See also:north; and a large Ionic portico, consisting of four columns in the front, and one in the return on each See also:side, was placed in front of this door. At the See also:south end of the western compartment was a smaller door, with steps leading up to the higher level, within a projecting space enclosed by a See also:low wall and covered with a projecting See also:porch carried by six " maidens " or See also:caryatides.

The construction of the building at this south-western corner shows that there was some sacred See also:

object that had to be bridged over by a huge See also:block of marble; this we know from See also:inscriptions to have been the Cecropeum or tomb of Cecrops. In the north portico a square hole in the See also:floor, with a corresponding hole in the roof above it, must have given See also:access to another sacred object, the mark of Poseidon's trident in the rock. The sacred olive tree probably stood just outside the temple to the west in the Pandroseion- The Ionic order, as used in this temple, is of the most ornate See also:Attic type. The bases of the columns are either reeded or decorated with a See also:plait-See also:pattern; the See also:capital has the broad channel between the volutes sub-divided by a carefully-profiled incision; and the See also:top of the shafts is ornamented by a broad See also:band of palmette or See also:honeysuckle pattern. A similar band of See also:ornament runs See also:round the top of the walls outside, and at their See also:base is a reeded See also:torus. The See also:frieze consisted of See also:white marble figures in See also:relief, affixed to a background of See also:black Eleusinian See also:stone. The contents of the Erechtheum are described by See also:Pausanias. It contained the ancient See also:image of Athena Polias, and three altars, one to Poseidon and Erechtheus, one to Butes and one to See also:Hephaestus; there were portraits of the See also:family of the Butadae on the walls. Within it was also the See also:gold See also:lamp of See also:Callimachus, which burnt for a year without refilling, and had a See also:chimney in the See also:form of a See also:palm-tree. The Erechtheum was damaged by a See also:fire, soon after its completion, in 406 B.c., but was repaired See also:early in the following See also:century. The west end appears to have been damaged in See also:Roman times and to have been replaced by the attached columns with windows between them which appear in old drawings and are still partially extant. It was used as a See also:church in See also:Christian times, and under See also:Turkish See also:rule as the See also:harem of the See also:governor of Athens.

See also:

Lord See also:Elgin carried off to See also:London, about 180I–1803, one of the columns of the east portico and one of the caryatides; these were replaced later by terra-See also:cotta casts. During the See also:siege of the Acropolis in 1827, the roof of the north portico was thrown down and the building was otherwise much damaged. It was partially rebuilt between 1838 and 1846; the west front was blown down in a See also:storm in 1852. Since 'goo the project of rebuilding the Erechtheum as far as possible with the original blocks has again been undertaken. See See also:Stuart, Antiquities of Athens; Inwood, The Erechtheum; H. See also:Forster in Papers of See also:American School at Athens, i. (1882–1883); J. H. See also:Middleton, Plans and Drawings of Athenian Buildings (1900), pls. xiv.-xxii.; E. A. See also:Gardner, Ancient Athens, See also:chap. viii.; W. Dorpfeld, " Der ursprungliche Plan See also:des Erechtheion " In Mitteil.

Athen., 1904, p. 1o', taf. 6; G. P. See also:

Stevens, " The East Wall of the Erechtheum," in American Journ. See also:Arch., 1906, pls. vi.-ix. (E.

End of Article: ERECHTHEUM

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