Western architecture

Introduction
European Metal Age cultures
- Aegean and eastern Mediterranean
  - Minoan Crete
  - Mycenaean Greece
    - Fortification
    - Palaces
    - Tombs
- Western Mediterranean
  - Bronze Age cultures
    - Iberia
    - Balearic Islands
    - Malta
    - Sardinia and Corsica
    - Italy
  - Iron Age cultures
    - Iberia
    - Italy
Ancient Greek
- The early periods
  - The “Orientalizing” period
  - The Archaic period (c. 750–500 bce)
- The Classical period
  - Early Classical (c. 500–450 bce)
  - High Classical (c. 450–400 bce)
  - Late Classical (c. 400–323 bce)
- Hellenistic period
Roman and early Christian
- Republic and empire
  - Building materials
  - Construction
  - Design
  - Types of public buildings
  - Residential architecture
  - Town planning
  - Stylistic development
- Early Christian
  - First period, to 313 ce
  - Second period, after 313 ce
The Christian East
- The early Byzantine period (330–726)
- The Iconoclastic Age (726–843)
- The middle Byzantine period (843–1204)
- The late Byzantine period (1204–1453)
- Kievan Rus and Russia
The Christian West
- The early Middle Ages
  - Migratory period
  - Merovingian period
    - France
    - Ireland
    - England
    - Spain
  - Carolingian period
  - Ottonian period
  - Prelude to Romanesque in the north
- Romanesque
  - Burgundy
  - Normandy
  - Aquitaine, Languedoc, and Auvergne
  - Provence
  - Germany and the Low Countries
  - Iberia
  - Italy
  - Norman Italy and Sicily
  - Palestine
- Gothic
  - Early Gothic
  - High Gothic
  - Italian Gothic (c. 1200–1400)
  - Late Gothic
  - The end of Gothic
The Renaissance
- Early Renaissance in Italy (1401–95)
- High Renaissance in Italy (1495–1520)
- Italian Mannerism or Late Renaissance (1520–1600)
- The Renaissance outside Italy
  - France
    - Early Renaissance
    - Mannerism
  - Spain
    - Plateresque
    - Classical
    - Herreran
  - Portugal
  - Germany
  - Flanders and Holland
  - England
  - Eastern Europe
Baroque and Rococo
- Origins and development in Rome
- National and regional variations
  - Italy
  - Spain
  - Flanders
  - Holland
  - France
  - England
  - Central Europe
  - Russia
  - Colonial architecture in North America
- Urban design
  - 17th century
  - 18th century
Classicism, 1750–1830
- Origins and development
- National and regional variations
  - Great Britain
  - France
  - Italy
  - Spain and Portugal
  - Germany
  - Scandinavia and Finland
  - Poland
  - Russia
  - United States
Gothic Revival, c. 1730–c. 1930
- Origins and development
- National and regional variations
  - Great Britain
    - From the 17th to the 19th century
    - From the 19th to the early 20th century
  - France
  - Germany and central Europe
  - Romania
  - The Low Countries
  - Scandinavia
  - Italy
  - Spain and Portugal
  - United States
Classicism, 1830–1930
- Continuing development
- National and regional variations
  - France
  - Great Britain
  - Italy
  - Germany and Austria
  - Scandinavia and Greece
  - United States
Late 19th-century developments
- Construction in iron and glass
- Art Nouveau
20th-century architecture
- The Modernist movement
  - Before World War II
    - Europe
    - The United States
  - After World War II
- Postmodernism
Architecture at the turn of the 21st century
- Deconstruction
- Millennial trends

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images & Videos

James Paine and Robert Adam: Kedleston Hall

palace of Phaestus

cyclopean masonry

Treasury of Atreus

A prehistoric taula on Minorca, featuring a large upright rectangular stone slab topped by a horizontal stone, standing outdoors among rocks and dry grass.

megalithic temple chamber

Etruscan tomb chamber

detail of a Doric temple

Related Questions

James Paine and Robert Adam: Kedleston Hall — James Paine and Robert Adam: Kedleston Hall Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire, England; designed by James Paine and Robert Adam.

Western architecture

Written by

Arthur VoyceAll

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Western architecture, history of Western architecture from prehistoric Mediterranean cultures to the 21st century. The history of Western architecture is marked by a series of new solutions to structural problems. During the period from the beginning of civilization through ancient Greek culture, construction methods progressed from the shed roof and simple truss to the vertical posts, or columns, supporting horizontal beams, or lintels (see post-and-lintel system). Greek architecture also formalized many structural and decorative elements...

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