Ionic Column

The Ionic Column forms one of the three classical orders of classical architecture, the other two canonic orders being the Doric and the Corinthian. The Ionic columns are the thinnest and smallest columns out of the three canonic orders. The Ionic capital is characterized by the use of volutes. The Ionic columns normally stand on a base which separates the shaft of the column from the stylobate or platform; the cap is usually enriched with egg-and-dart.



The first of the great Ionic temples was the Temple of Hera on Samos, built about 570 BC‒560 BC by the architect Rhoikos. It stood for only a decade before it was leveled by an earthquake. A longer-lasting 6th century Ionic temple was the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The Parthenon, although it conforms mainly to the Doric order, also has some Ionic elements. A more purely Ionic mode to be seen on the Athenian Acropolis is exemplified in the Erechtheum.