Houses in ancient Greece had more or less to contend with the problems we have today, especially heat and cold.
Thermal Insulation
The walls of the houses were usually made of mud and stone. Since cement had not yet been discovered for mass use, eggs and goat hair were used for better "bonding" and mud resistance. The north wall was thicker and had the fewest possible openings. The entrance was usually on the east side and less often on the south side.
Use of plants for air conditioning
On the north side of the house, evergreen trees were usually planted, such as olive trees, so that their foliage would not allow the cold winter north wind to fall directly on the house. On the south side there were usually deciduous trees which, without foliage, did not prevent the sun from warming the house in winter, but offered shade in summer.
Today we meet again in some designs the old ideas of natural cooling of the buildings with the help of plants, but also often to improve the sound insulation against the noise of the surroundings.
Only as much sun as you need
But the ancient Greeks did not limit themselves to using plants for air conditioning. They used a carefully designed roof extension over the south-facing doors and windows.
The size of this extension was calculated to prevent the sun from falling inside the house in summer, but in winter, when it has a lower orbit, this extension did not prevent it from heating the inside of the house.
Another clever alternative was to use an arbor of a certain height and width. They achieved almost the same results and ate the grapes!
Thermoreflective paint
And of course, as you can see to this day in most traditional Greek houses, the color remains white! It is found mostly on sunny islands and serves to minimize the heat of the sun.
In addition, the lime used to whiten the walls, especially in the Aegean islands, has a number of other useful properties such as disinfection and absorption of moisture, prevention of insects, etc.
For example, a white car of the same type as a black one parked in the same sunny spot may have an internal temperature difference of more than 10 degrees. You can notice when the sun comes out after a rain, how much faster the dark cars dry.
Water supply network
The first known water supply and sewage network for the entire city is found at Knossos. The excavations of Arthur Evans at the beginning of the century brought to light an impressive water supply system. Water was transported in clay pipes from quite far away from the areas of Kounavon and Archanes to the aqueduct of the city and from there distributed to the houses. The houses were made of wood, stone and marble and some of them with three, less with four, but also some, like the palace, with five floors. Some public buildings, probably food warehouses, had clad walls with ceramic tiles, similar to today.
Design of the ancient pipes and connections
Plumbing in the palace at Knossos in Crete from the first Middle Minoan period around 2000 B.C. The parts(clay pipes) of baked clay were made to be easy to install. Tip coating was used for smooth joints that ensured the free flow of water and minimal turbulence. The configuration of the joints with sawdust kept the connection secure.
The design of the clay pipes with properly shaped ends allowed joints with maximum security and optimum flow. It is obvious that for such precision joints, a shape was used in the constructions that ensured homogeneity and standardization of the pipes as well as production speed.
Another interesting point, which was not known until after its modern reinvention, was points of the water system constructed in a way that, by turbulence due to the flow through spiral pipes, the pressure or velocity of the water was increased as required at each point. An easy way of cleaning was the intervening maintenance wells of the network, where the water pressure dropped and any debris could float or sink before the water continued its course.
Excavations in the palaces of Knossos revealed a perfect sewage system, baths and facilities for agricultural water use.
Sewer
At Knossos, we see for the first time the use of a siphon in the sewage system. The quality of life and apparently the knowledge of the rules of hygiene in the house could not be reconciled with undesirable odors from the sewers. We meet them again in Thira with an organized sewage system.
An ancient sewerage network is seen in the Aztec culture, where human feces were collected and used as fertilizer, and urine for the production of paint. The city of Tenochtitlan was considered very clean and a thousand people cleaned its streets every day.
In 1589, the toilet with a cistern and a pit with the help of J. Harrison brings "modern conveniences" in England. Even the Palace of Versailles, famous for its wealth, had no sewers.
Underfloor Heating
The first known water supply and sewage system for an entire city are found at Knossos.
Palace of Knossos
Another element that proves the evolutionary superiority of Knossos in relation to the other known buildings of the period is the way in which some rooms of the palace were heated. There were pipes under the floor through which hot water flowed and heated the entire room.
M. Triwald in Sweden in 1716 gives new ideas to the use of underfloor heating, and so many private and public rooms are now heated in this way. In the Netherlands, it is even used on bridges to melt the ice in winter and cool the asphalt in summer.
It is estimated that Knossos had nearly 100,000 inhabitants at the time of its heyday. In one mural we see a white officer and black "mercenaries", which gives us an indication of its power and influence.
Dome building
The Treasury of Atreus or Tomb of Agamemnon is a large tholos or beehive tomb on Panagitsa Hill at Mycenae
When you go to Mycenae, you see the famous "Treasure of Atreus", a domed structure of a civilization that flourished from 1600 to 1200 BC. This vaulted structure, which was used as a burial site, is 14.6 meters in diameter and 13.4 meters high. It is made of carefully cut stones that are not bonded together with a bonding agent.
They are held in place by gravity and the pressure of the mound of earth above. In other words: If someone were to remove the soil from the mound, it is very likely that the structure would collapse. The design difficulty of such a structure makes it particularly rare.
At its entrance, above the door of the vaulted tomb, is a neatly carved 122-ton boulder. Above it is a triangle hole that cleverly protects the door from undue stress. The knowledge required to build a monument of this size, in conjunction with the materials and their connection, at least commands respect for the architects who designed and implemented such a structure.
There is often a misconception that the arch, the vault, the arch and the dome are a Roman invention. The Greeks used circular structures without problems, at least from the Mycenaean period onwards, but almost exclusively for buildings in the interior. We find them in tombs, necromancer structures, etc.
The Romans brought these structures to the surface and used them extensively. The dimensions of the "Treasure of Atreus" were surpassed by a corresponding circular structure in the famous Pantheon of Rome, built by Apollodorus of Damascus 1350 years later.
At Palaiomanina, Etoloakarnania, almost 55 km from the city of Astakos, part of an ancient wall with the oldest known arched gate is preserved. Its age is estimated at about 5,000 years and is part of the city walls with a circumference of almost 5 kilometers. The ancient city had two citadels, several towers and a part of the paved road that connected the city with the Acheloos river is preserved.
The Eskimos have been building their domed houses from cut snow cubes since time immemorial. The construction is quite difficult, especially considering that they have to build each row more and more inward so that it can close at a reasonable height without collapsing inside.
One trick that was discovered and used is not to build in overlapping rows, but in a one-piece spiral, which makes it easier to build. In this way, a person can build the igloo themselves quite quickly, if of course, they have the right experience.
Theater design
Ancient theatre of Ephesus
Theaters were another impressive type of building in ancient Greece. The best known are Ephesus with a capacity of 24,000 seats, Megalopolis 22,000 seats, Argos 20,000 seats, Corinth 18,000 seats. Many of them were built to take advantage of natural hillside ditches, but in most cases there was artificial landscaping and many structural additions.
Their interesting architecture is not limited to their dimensions and esthetics, but goes on to technical issues such as their appearance and acoustics. In fact, the acoustics of the theaters is considered an almost mysterious achievement. It was designed so that all spectators could comfortably see the stage, but equally well hear what was said by the actors.
Some theaters (such as Gythio) had what was called the 'Charon scales', which was a tunnel under the stage through which the actors playing the spirits of the underworld appeared in the play. ' Another construction like a crane showed the heavenly gods descending onto the stage. In some theaters (e.g. Sparta and Megalopolis) the stage was rolled and transported to a safer, covered location after the performance. We do not know for sure whether other transportable scenery was used depending on the type of performance.
An achievement for the time was the sea battles that took place (especially in Roman times) with tiny ships in some theaters like the Argos and the Theater of Dionysus under the Acropolis of Athens.
Some theaters were unusually designed constructions. For example, the great theater of Epidaurus was built at the end of the 4th century BC and the upper cornice was built at the end of the 3rd century BC. Its orchestra is a perfect circle, while its cavity is part of a sphere. 34 rows of seats in the lower ledge and 21 in the upper make a total of 55 rows.
The presence of ancient theaters in almost the entire Mediterranean region is impressive. Some believe that the number of ancient theaters and their location do not justify their large capacity and the cost of construction, and that they may have been intended for other purposes.
Mycenaean road construction
The Mycenaean civilization developed one of the first water supply networks, but also one of the first road networks in Europe. By the 14th century BC, Mycenaean chariots traveled on roads up to 5 m wide and crossed constructed bridges. The road network of ancient Argolis is still preserved in many places. In the ancient roads we find pairs of grooves, 7-10 cm deep and about 20 cm wide, with a spacing of 1.4m. or 1.8m. which served the wheeled vehicles of the time.
It is reported that the construction and design of new roads was undertaken by the Amfiktions who charged the towns appropriate fees for the construction. Often rich people of the time paid for the construction costs of some roads.
Mycenaean arch bridges
The bridge of Valyra (upper Pamisos), still in use today, confirms the continuation of ancient Greek knowledge of the use of the arch in construction until the 3rd century BC.
Another Mycenaean bridge is located in the Arkadiko of Argolis, at the site of Kazarmas on the road from Nafplio to Epidaurus.
There are two other ancient bridges in Arkadiko and Galousi. The size of the boulders used for these bridges is impressive, classifying them as Cyclopean structures.
The bridge at Eleftherna in Crete is also very well preserved. It dates back to the 4th century BC.
