Classic collection

The term ‘classical architecture’ has an archaeological meaning in reference to classical Greek architecture. Historians also use it, however, to refer to a series of styles based on that source, either directly or indirectly. After the Renaissance, most of the styles in Europe can be described as being classical architecture. This broad use of the term is employed by Sir John Summerson in The Classical Language of Architecture. The ‘elements’ of classical architecture have been applied to the architecture of contexts that are radically different from those they originally developed from. The classical orders —Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian— had great importance in the history of Greece from the 5th century BC, right up to Gaul in the year 1 CE. These four styles have been revived again and again since then.