Definition:
Ancient builders developed several Orders, or rules, for the design and proportion of buildings, including the columns. Doric is the earliest and most simple of the Classical Orders set down in ancient Greece.
A Doric column is much plainer than the later Ionic and Corinthian column styles. A Doric column is also thicker and heavier than an Ionic or Corinthian column. For this reason, the Doric column is sometimes associated with strength and masculinity. Believing that Doric columns could bear the most weight, ancient builders often used them for the lowest level of mufti-story buildings, reserving the more slender Ionic and Corinthian columns for the upper levels.
Features of a Doric Column:
- Originally placed directly on the ground without a pedestal or base
- Shaft is wider at the bottom
- Shaft is fluted (grooved)
- Smooth, round capitals (tops)
- No carvings or other ornaments
- Developed in the western Dorian region of Greece in about the 6th century BC
- Used in Greece until about 100 BC
- Similar Roman Doric and Tuscan styles emerged in Rome
- The Parthenon Temple at the Acropolis in Athens
- The Temple of Hephaestus in Athens
- The Temple of the Delians
- The Temple of Zeus at Olympia
- The Colosseum in Rome (Doric columns on the first level, Ionic columns on the second level, and Corinthian columns on the third level)
- Basilica Palladiana (Doric columns on the first level, Ionic columns above)
- The Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC
Common Misspellings: dooric, daric, droric
