Editing Ancient Greek architecture (section)

==== Roof ====
{{Further|List of Greco-Roman roofs}}
The widest span of a temple roof was across the [[cella]], or inner chamber. In a large building, this space contains columns to support the roof, the [[architectural form]] being known as [[hypostyle]]. It appears that, although the architecture of ancient Greece was initially of wooden construction, the early builders did not have the concept of the diagonal truss as a stabilising member. This is evidenced by the nature of temple construction in the 6th century BC, where the rows of columns supporting the roof of the cella rise higher than the outer walls, unnecessary if roof trusses are employed as an integral part of the wooden roof. The indication is that initially all the rafters were supported directly by the entablature, walls and hypostyle, rather than on a trussed wooden frame, which came into use in Greek architecture only in the 3rd century BC.<ref name="BF3" />

Ancient Greek buildings of timber, clay and plaster construction were probably roofed with thatch. With the rise of stone architecture came the appearance of fired ceramic [[roof tiles]]. These early roof tiles showed an S-shape, with the pan and cover tile forming one piece. They were much larger than modern roof tiles, being up to {{convert|90|cm|2|abbr=on}} long, {{convert|70|cm|2|abbr=on}} wide, {{convert|3|-|4|cm|2|abbr=on|lk=out}} thick and weighing around {{convert|30|kg|0|abbr=on}} apiece.<ref>{{harvnb|Boardman|Dorig|Fuchs|Hirmer|1967|p=12}}; {{harvnb|Rostoker|Gebhard|1981|p=212}}.</ref> Only stone walls, which were replacing the earlier [[mudbrick]] and wood walls, were strong enough to support the weight of a tiled roof.<ref name=MG>{{harvnb|Goldberg|1983|pp=305–309}}.</ref>

The earliest finds of roof tiles of the [[Archaic period in Greece]] are documented from a very restricted area around [[Corinth]], where fired tiles began to replace [[Thatching|thatched]] roofs at the temples of [[Apollo]] and [[Temple of Isthmia|Poseidon]] between 700 and 650 BC.<ref name=OW>{{harvnb|Wikander|1990|pp=285–289}}.</ref> Spreading rapidly, roof tiles were within fifty years in evidence for a large number of sites around the Eastern [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]], including Mainland [[Greece]], Western [[Asia Minor]], Southern and Central [[Italy]].<ref name="OW" /> Being more expensive and labour-intensive to produce than thatch, their introduction has been explained by the fact that their fireproof quality would have given desired protection to the costly temples.<ref name="OW" /> As a side-effect, it has been assumed that the new stone and tile construction also ushered in the end of overhanging eaves in Greek architecture, as they made the need for an extended roof as rain protection for the mudbrick walls obsolete.<ref name="MG" />

[[Vault (architecture)|Vaults]] and [[arch]]es were not generally used, but begin to appear in tombs (in a "beehive" or cantilevered form such as used in Mycenaea) and occasionally, as an external feature, [[exedra]]e of [[voussoir]]ed construction from the 5th century BC. The [[dome]] and vault never became significant structural features, as they were to become in [[ancient Roman architecture]].<ref name="BF3" />