What did ancient Greeks have in their homes?

In most of ancient Greece, a house was built around an open air courtyard. Houses were built of stone, wood, and clay bricks. They were sturdy and comfortable. Larger homes might have several bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathing room, a woman’s sitting area, a men’s dining room, and one or two rooms for storage.

How did the Greeks build houses?

Ancient Greek homes were built around a courtyard or garden. The walls were often made from wood and mud bricks. They had small windows with no glass, but wooden shutters to keep out the hot sun. At night, Greeks slept on beds stuffed with wool, feathers or dry grass.

What were poor ancient Greek homes like?

In ancient Greece, poor people and rich people lived in different kinds of houses. All houses were made of mud bricks and needed frequent repairs. The floors and walls in the houses were carefully created using stones, tiles, or pebbles. The nicest houses used pebbles to create mosaics.

Why are Greek houses white?

This might sound strange today, but the whitewash used to paint the houses contained limestone. Limestone is a powerful disinfectant, and not many others were in common use at the time. Greek citizens thus whitewashed their homes to help sanitize them and reduce the spread of cholera.

What does andron mean in Greek?

noun. (in an ancient Greek house) an apartment for men, especially one for banqueting. (in an ancient Roman house) a passage between two peristyles.

What are houses called in Greece?

oikos
The ancient Greek word oikos (ancient Greek: οἶκος, plural: οἶκοι; English prefix: eco- for ecology and economics) refers to three related but distinct concepts: the family, the family’s property, and the house.

How did poor people live in ancient Greek?

Poor people lived in just one, two, or three rooms. Rich Greeks lived in large houses with several rooms. Usually, they were arranged around a courtyard and often an upper story. Downstairs was the kitchen and the dining room (called the andron).

Why are buildings in Greece painted white?

These stones were good insulators, however because of their dark colour, these stones would absorb sunlight, making life difficult on an extremely hot day. This is when people there decided to colour the stones white to keep their houses cool. They would mix the powder with the limestone plaster and paint the house.

What are the white houses in Greece called?

Were the Cycladic houses always white? Not at all! The Cycladic houses were traditionally made of stone, which was the material most readily available all over Greece. During the centuries when pirates roamed the Aegean, the houses were largely left unpainted, thus blending into the landscape.

What is a Greek house called?

The ancient Greek word oikos (ancient Greek: οἶκος, plural: οἶκοι; English prefix: eco- for ecology and economics) refers to three related but distinct concepts: the family, the family’s property, and the house. The oikos was the basic unit of society in most Greek city-states.

At what age were ancient Greeks considered adults?

Coming of Age traces the life of the Greek child from birth to adulthood—around 15 years of age for girls, the time of marriage for females in ancient Greece, and around 17 or 18 for boys, the age at which they entered the military.

Why do Greek houses have domed roofs?

Why pick a dome? It’s the easiest way to make a roof when only thing you have around you is stones. It’s exactly the same reason Eskimos make igloos, only it’s ice all around there. Wood, good quality wood is scarce in Santorini, as good quality clay to make roof tiles.

What was the size of an ancient Greek house?

Bigger houses had dozens of rooms and more than one floor. These rooms included bathing rooms, a dining room and a kitchen. Bedrooms were located on the second floor. Often, men and women lived in different parts of the house. The men’s rooms were known as the andron and the women’s rooms were called the gynaikonitis.

What was the dining room like in ancient Greece?

The men’s rooms were known as the andron and the women’s rooms were called the gynaikonitis. The dining rooms had couches and low tables on which the occupants reclined during meals. Houses during this time were typically made of sun-hardened mud cut into bricks.

What did people in ancient Greece live in?

The dimension of the houses depended on the wealth of the citizens. If the people were poor, they lived in a small home. If they were wealthy, they lived in a big house with a kitchen, a woman’s sitting area, a bathing room, some bedrooms, storage room and a men’s dining room.

Why was there a courtyard in a Greek house?

This design helped the air to circulate and keep the temperature down during the hottest parts of the year. Most Greek houses were modest in size, with only a few rooms surrounding a yard or walled garden. The side of the house facing the street usually only had one door, which led directly to the courtyard.