The Doric order was developed in the Peloponnese and mainland Greece during the 7th century B.C. and spread to some of the islands, Sicily and Magna Graecia. Some of the earliest Doric temples are found in the sphere of influence of Corinth and are dated in the first half of the 7th century. These are the temple of Apollo in Corinth, the temple of Poseidon in Isthmia, the first Heraion in Perachora and the temple of Apollo in Thermum. The last one is dated around 630 B.C. and had clay painted panels, sima and waterspouts. The initially wooden columns were gradually replaced by stone ones. The columns of the temple of Poseidon in Isthmia were also wooden. The roof of both these temples did not end in the characteristic triangular gable, but it was rather curved. The temples of Hera in Argos and in Foce del Sele in Italy, as well as that of Apollo in Delphi, must have had a similar roofing. All the temples of that period were later replaced by other more architecturally developed ones, a fact which restricts our knowledge about the achievements of that specific period. | |