Ionic Order

The Ionic order is one of the architectural orders of ancient Greece. An order (nidaam) refers to the system for proportioning a column, its base, and its superstructure, with measurements that correspond to each other. The Ionic order is recognized by its capital (the head of the column), which features two spiral scrolls called volutes.

The name derives from Ionia, the eastern coast of the Aegean Sea and its islands, now part of western Turkey. The style developed there and later spread through central Greece and Mediterranean lands. It is commonly compared to the Doric order, which is heavier and lacks volutes, and the Corinthian order, whose capital bears acanthus ornaments.

Features of the form

The Ionic column has a base that rises above the ground, unlike the Doric column which typically sits directly on the platform. The shaft of the column is tall and slender in comparison to the Doric, and is usually carved with narrow parallel grooves called flutes, which have sharp edges between them. The capital is its most distinctive feature: two volutes projecting from the sides, with an egg-and-dart pattern often carved in the centre.

The structure above the columns is called the entablature. In the Ionic order, the architrave (lower level) is typically divided into three projecting bands. The frieze (middle level) is usually a continuous band without divisions, creating the effect of a single connected narrative scene—unlike the Doric frieze, which is divided into alternating triglyphs and metopes.

Notable examples

The great temples of Ionia, such as the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus and the Temple of Apollo at Didyma, demonstrate how the order was used in large buildings. In Athens, the Acropolis buildings of the fifth century BCE—including the Erechtheion and the small Temple of Athena Nike—are celebrated examples of Ionic design. The Propylaea of the Acropolis combines both Doric and Ionic elements in a single structure.

Later development

The Romans adopted the Ionic order and combined it with others, creating a composite order that blends Ionic volutes with Corinthian ornament. From the Renaissance onwards, writers such as Vitruvius (an ancient Roman) and later theorists established set proportional rules for the orders. As a result, the Ionic order reappeared in government buildings, libraries, and banks in the Neoclassical style, particularly in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.