peripteros

Peripteros refers to a type of ancient Greek temple that is surrounded on all sides by a single row of columns, forming a continuous peristyle. The term comes from Greek roots meaning around and column or wing, reflecting the surrounding colonnade that defines the building’s exterior. In a typical peripteral temple, the inner chamber (the naos or cella) is enclosed by a colonnade, with a pronaos at the front and often an opisthodomos at the rear.

The defining feature of the peripteral plan is the exterior colonnade, which creates a spacious surrounding passage. The columns are usually of the Doric or Ionic order, and the arrangement may vary in the number of columns along the long and short sides. The design emphasizes symmetry, proportion, and the play of light and shadow around the temple.

Peripteral temples were a dominant form in classical Greek architecture and were later influential in Roman temple construction. The Parthenon on the Athenian Acropolis is the most renowned example, featuring a full surrounding row of columns (eight on the short sides and seventeen along the long sides). Other well-known peripteral temples include various sanctuaries within Greece and the broader Hellenic world, as well as temples built in Magna Graecia.

Variants and related terms include the pseudo-peripteral or pseudoperipteral temple, where engaged or half-columns imitate a surrounding colonnade, and the dipteral or amphiprostyle forms, which employ multiple rows of columns or columns only at the ends. The peripteros remains a key concept in describing classic Greek temple architecture.