Italian architecture

Italy has a very broad and diverse architectural style, which cannot be simply classified by period or region, due to Italy's division into various small states until 1861. This has created a highly diverse and eclectic range in architectural designs. Italy is known for its considerable architectural achievements, such as the construction of aqueducts, temples and similar structures during ancient Rome, the founding of the Renaissance architectural movement in the late-14th to 16th century, and being the homeland of Palladianism, a style of construction which inspired movements such as that of Neoclassical architecture, and influenced the designs which noblemen built their country houses all over the world, notably in the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States of America during the late-17th to early 20th centuries.

Several of the finest works in Western architecture, such as the Colosseum, the Duomo of Milan, the Mole Antonelliana in Turin, Florence Cathedral and the building designs of Venice are found in Italy. Italy has an estimated total of 100,000 monuments of all varieties (museums, palaces, buildings, statues, churches, art galleries, villas, fountains, historic houses and archaeological remains). Now Italy is in the forefront of modernist and sustainable design with architects like Renzo Piano and Carlo Mollino.

Italian architecture has also widely influenced the architecture of the world. Moreover, Italianate architecture, popular abroad since the 19th century, was used to describe foreign architecture which was built in an Italian style, especially modelled on Renaissance architecture.

Along with pre-historic architecture, the first people in Italy to truly begin a sequence of designs were the Greeks and the Etruscans. In Northern and Central Italy, it was the Etruscans who led the way in architecture in that time. Etruscan buildings were made from brick and wood, thus few Etruscan architectural sites are now in evidence in Italy, with the exception of a few in Volterra, Tuscany and Perugia, Umbria. The Etruscans built temples, fora, public streets, aqueducts and city gates which had a significant influence on Roman architecture.

In Southern Italy, from the 8th century BC, the Greek colonists who created what was known as Magna Graecia used to build their buildings in their own style. They built bigger, better and technologically advanced houses which influenced Roman architecture too. Yet, by the 4th century BC, the Hellenistic Age, less concentration was put on constructing temples, rather more time was spent building theatres. The theatres were semi-circular and had an auditorium and a stage. They used to be built only on hills, unlike the Romans who would artificially construct the audience's seats.

The Greek temples were known for containing bulky stone or marble pillars. Today, there are several remains of Greek architecture in Italy, notably in Calabria, Apulia, and Sicily. The temples in the Valle dei Templi, which are currently UNESCO World Heritage Sites, are a fine example.

Influenced by Greek architecture (which had left important signs in Magna Grecia, in the temples of Agrigento, Selinunte and Paestum) and by the Etruscan architecture (which aroused the attentions of Vitruvius), Roman architecture assumed its own characteristics.

The Romans absorbed Greek influence, apparent in many aspects closely related to architecture; for example, this can be seen in the introduction and use of the triclinium in Roman villas as a place and manner of dining. The Romans, similarly, were indebted to their Etruscan neighbours who supplied them with a wealth of knowledge essential for future architectural solutions such as hydraulics and in the construction of arches.