A monopteros (Ancient Greek: , from the

Polytonic Greek orthography has used a variety of diacritics starting in the Hellenistic period. The more complex polytonic orthography ( el, πολυτονικό σύστημα γραφής, translit=polytonikó sýstīma grafī́s), which includes fiv ...

: μόνος, 'only, single, alone', and , 'wing') is a circular

colonnade In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or curv ...

supporting a roof but without any walls. Unlike a tholos (in its wider sense as a circular building), it does not have walls making a

cella A cella (from Latin for small chamber) or naos (from the Ancient Greek, Greek ναός, "temple") is the inner chamber of an ancient Greek temple, Greek or Roman temple in classical antiquity. Its enclosure within walls has given rise to extende ...

or room inside. In

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

and especially

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

antiquity the term could also be used for a tholos. In ancient times, monopteroi (Ancient Greek: ) served '' inter alia'' as a form of

baldachin A baldachin, or baldaquin (from it, baldacchino), is a canopy of state typically placed over an altar or throne. It had its beginnings as a cloth canopy, but in other cases it is a sturdy, permanent architectural feature, particularly over h ...

for a cult image. An example of this is the Monument of Lysicrates in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, albeit the spaces between the columns were walled in, even in ancient times. The

Temple of Rome and Augustus The Temple of Rome and Augustus was a monopteral circular Ionic temple built on the Acropolis of Athens , likely coincident with Augustus' second visit to Athens. The structure was axially aligned with the eastern entrance of the Parthenon, place ...

on the

Athenian Acropolis The Acropolis of Athens is an ancient citadel located on a rocky outcrop above the city of Athens and contains the remains of several ancient buildings of great architectural and historical significance, the most famous being the Parthenon. Th ...

is a monopteros from Roman times with open spaces between the columns.

Cyriacus of Ancona Cyriacus of Ancona or Ciriaco de' Pizzicolli (31 July 1391 – 1453/55) was a restlessly itinerant Italian humanist and antiquarian who came from a prominent family of merchants in Ancona, a maritime republic on the Adriatic. He has been called ...

, a 15th-century traveller, handed down his

architrave In classical architecture, an architrave (; from it, architrave "chief beam", also called an epistyle; from Greek ἐπίστυλον ''epistylon'' "door frame") is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of columns. The term can ...

inscription: ''Ad praefatae Palladis Templi vestibulum''. A monopteros (or monopteron) is also known as cyclostyle (from the Greek words for "circle" and "column"). "A structure composed of a circular range of columns without a core" The adjectives are ''monopteral'' and ''cyclostylar''. In

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

and

Classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the works of the Roman architect V ...

, a monopteros as a pavilion, often given a classical name such as a "

muse In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...

s' temple" is a popular

garden feature Garden features are physical elements, both natural and manmade, used in garden design. *Artificial waterfall *Avenue *Aviary *Bog garden *Borrowed scenery *Bosquet * Broderie *Belvedere *Chashitsu (tea house) *Chōzubachi (basin) * Deck *Dirty ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and French gardens. The monopteros also occurs in German parks, as in the

English Garden The English landscape garden, also called English landscape park or simply the English garden (french: Jardin à l'anglaise, it, Giardino all'inglese, german: Englischer Landschaftsgarten, pt, Jardim inglês, es, Jardín inglés), is a sty ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

and in Hayns Park in

Hamburg-Eppendorf Eppendorf is one of thirteen quarters in the Hamburg-Nord borough of Hamburg, Germany, and lies north of the Außenalster. In 2020 the population was 24,806. History Eppendorf, first mentioned as ''Eppenthorp'' in 1140, is Hamburg's oldest vil ...

. Many

well A well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...

s in

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

s and spa centres have the appearance of a monopteros. Many monopteroi have

staffage In painting, staffage () are the human and animal figures depicted in a scene, especially a landscape, that are not the primary subject matter of the work. Typically they are small, and there to add an indication of scale and add interest. Before ...

structures like a

porticus A porticus, in church architecture and archaeology, is usually a small room in a church. Commonly, porticus form extensions to the north and south sides of a church, giving the building a cruciform plan. They may function as chapels, rudimentary ...

, placed in front of the monopteros. These also have only a decorative function, because they are not needed in order to provide an entrance to a temple that is open on all sides. Many monopteroi are described as rotundas due to their circular

floor plan In architecture and building engineering, a floor plan is a technical drawing to scale, showing a view from above, of the relationships between rooms, spaces, traffic patterns, and other physical features at one level of a structure. Dimensio ...

. The tholos also goes by that name. However, many monopteroi have square or polygonal plans, that would not be described as rotundas. An example is the Muses' Temple with the muse,

Polyhymnia Polyhymnia (; el, Πολυύμνια, lit=the one of many hymns), alternatively Polymnia (Πολύμνια), was, in Greek mythology, the Muse of sacred poetry, sacred hymn, dance and eloquence, as well as agriculture and pantomime. Etymology ...

, in the grounds of

Tiefurt House Tiefurt House (german: link=no, Schloss Tiefurt) is a small stately home on the Ilm river in the Tiefurt quarter of Weimar, about 4 km east of the city centre. It was the summer residence of duchess Anna Amalia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. ...

, that has a hexagonal floor plan. __NOTOC__

Examples

File:Bayreuth-Hofgartenpavillon-2.jpg, The pavilion in the Court Garden of the New Palace, Bayreuth File:Munich, 2013 (10383018573).jpg, The monopteros in the

File:Apollotempel Nymphenburg Muenchen-1.jpg, The Apollo Temple in the Nymphenburg Castle Park, Munich File:SchlossLinderhof Venustempel.JPG, The Venus Temple at the

Linderhof Palace Linderhof Palace (german: Schloss Linderhof) is a Schloss in Germany, in southwest Bavaria near the village of Ettal. It is the smallest of the three palaces built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria and the only one which he lived to see completed. Deve ...

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

, Germany File:Leibniztempel Hannover.jpg, The Leibniz Temple in the Georgengarten,

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

File:Vilbeltrinkbrunnen retouched.jpg, Well temple in the spa park at Bad Vilbel File:Eutin Monopteros.jpg, Monopteros in the castle park at

Eutin Castle Eutin Castle (german: Eutiner Schloss) in Eutin in the north German district of Ostholstein is the cultural centre and nucleus of the town. Taken together, this castle, Gottorf Castle and Glücksburg Castle, form the most important group of cou ...

(by

C.F. Hansen Christian Frederik Hansen (29 February 1756 – 10 July 1845), known as C. F. Hansen, was the leading Danish architect between the late 18th century and the mid 19th century, and on account of his position at the Royal Danish Academy of Art (''D ...

, 1796) File:Wörlitz Venustempel im Winter 2.jpg, Venus Temple in the Wörlitzer Park File:Fruestueckspavillon-Kassel-I.JPG, The Breakfast Pavilion (''Frühstückspavillon'') in Kassel File:Siege Bell Memorial monument.jpg, The Siege Bell Memorial in

Valletta Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an Local councils of Malta, administrative unit and capital city, capital of Malta. Located on the Malta (island), main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, i ...

References

Literature

* Wolfgang Binder: ''Der Roma-Augustus Monopteros auf der Akropolis in Athen und sein typologischer Ort''. Karlsruhe 1969. * Ingrid Weibezahn: ''Geschichte und Funktion des Monopteros. Untersuchungen zu einem Gebäudetyp des Spätbarock und des Klassizismus''. Hildesheim 1975, . Online

(Google Books)

External links

Wiesbaden monopteros - 360° panoramaPhotographs and historical background to the Leibniz Temple in Hanover
{{Garden features Columns and entablature ! Rotundas (architecture) Buildings and structures by shape Garden features

Examples

See also

References

Literature

External links