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Temple of Artemis

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Eiregirl

Joined: 21 Jul 2005
Posts: 10230
Location: Chasing a pink bunny

Temple of Artemis

Built around 550BC it was said to have been the most beautiful structure on earth...It was built in honor of the Greek goddess of hunting, nature, fertility and childbirth some even call her the Goddess of the Moon. Built in the ancient city of Ephesus near the modern day town of Selcuk. The temple was funded by the King of Lydia with the main purpose being the worship of Artemis with a secondary purpose being a marketplace. The King commissioned the architect Chersiphron for the design and building of the temple. The building was made of marble and had a decorated facade that overlooked a spacious courtyard. Marble steps surrounding the buildings platform led to the high terrace that was approximately 80 meters by 130 meters. The columns all…127 of them aligned orthogonally over the platform area were 20 meters high with Ionic capitals and carved circular sides. The building was adorned with golden pillars and silver statues and within were four bronze statues of amazons. All done by the finest artists, sculptors and craftsmen of the time. In the center of the temple stood a marble statue of Artemis adorned with ivory and gold. In 356BC the building burned only to be rebuilt about 25 years later. Then in 262AD it was again destroyed but this time by invading Goths and now…just over 1700 years later there are attempts being made to rebuild it yet again but only a few columns have been erected thus far. The temple served as both a marketplace and a religious institution and in recent excavations many artifacts have been uncovered…statuettes made of gold and ivory... earrings, bracelets, and necklaces... artifacts from as far as Persia and India.

The real beauty would have been in the exquisite artistic and architectural details that were so brilliantly done but most of those details are forever lost. There are only slight hints of intricate artwork that adorned the building that remains. With all those details being unknown, how could anyone say it was the most beautiful structure on earth? Because at the time that is what everyone who saw it said. The Temple of Artemis…the most beautiful building on earth. Who are we to argue with those that saw it?
_________________
All poems and stories posted by Eiregirl are Copyright 2005 - 2008 Aoibhegréine These literary works are my property under copyright. If you wish to use my work for any purpose please ASK FIRST.

Wed Oct 11, 2006 5:34 am

Cavewoman

Joined: 06 Sep 2005
Posts: 2056
Location: nearby

Eire... thank you again for an interesting lesson..

a question?
(i already tried googling and wikipedia'ng this and don't get it)....

what does orthogonal architecture look like?

Wed Oct 11, 2006 6:43 am

Guest

quote:
Originally posted by Cavewoman:
Eire... thank you again for an interesting lesson..

a question?
(i already tried googling and wikipedia'ng this and don't get it)....

what does orthogonal architecture look like?

Cave,
Thanks for reading these... Smile

Wed Oct 11, 2006 9:45 am

Eiregirl

Joined: 21 Jul 2005
Posts: 10230
Location: Chasing a pink bunny

quote:
Originally posted by Cavewoman:
Eire... thank you again for an interesting lesson..

a question?
(i already tried googling and wikipedia'ng this and don't get it)....

what does orthogonal architecture look like?

Cave,
Thanks for reading these... Smile

Thank you very much...hugs you tight.

Orthogonal is having perpendicular slopes or tangents at a point of intersection. Basically it means that the Temple is (was) composed of a lot of right angles. Without getting into a bit of geometry and mathematical explanations that is the simplest answer I can give you.

Here are some pictures of the temple that may help some.

http://www.billmunnsgallery.com/images/SWGTDE1.jpg

http://www.billmunnsgallery.com/images/SWGTDE2.jpg

http://www.billmunnsgallery.com/images/SWGTDE3.jpg

http://thanasis.com/artem2r.jpg

http://online.mq.edu.au/pub/ACANSCAE/chapters/images/ch09_01.jpg

Eiregirl

_________________
All poems and stories posted by Eiregirl are Copyright 2005 - 2008 Aoibhegréine These literary works are my property under copyright. If you wish to use my work for any purpose please ASK FIRST.

Wed Oct 11, 2006 10:24 am

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