What Are Doric Columns?

Doric order columns are one of three orders of ancient Greek architecture. Of the three column orders—Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian—Doric columns have a smoother, simpler, heavier appearance.

The Doric order is the oldest and simplest of the Greek orders. Developed around the 6th or 7th century and used in the building of grand stone structures like temples, the Doric order was derived from an earlier wooden building style. 

Doric columns typically have rounded, smooth capitals at their tops. They usually have no base, and they’re stouter and more massive than the other two orders’ columns. Their shafts can be either smooth or fluted. Read on for more details on how to identify Doric columns, along with their history and what sets them apart from other styles.

One of the earliest styles of classical architecture, the Doric order was first seen in ancient Greece around the 7th century BCE. The style was introduced when buildings were still often made with wood, but you’ll see stone Doric architecture as early as the 6th century BCE. It was most popular in mainland Greece and its western colonies like southern Italy.

Structures built in the Doric order typically had columns with fluted shafts that were placed fairly close together. Since this architecture style was simple yet robust, it demonstrated the cultural emphasis on functionality and minimalism prominent in Greece at the time. You’ll often see temples dedicated to male deities built in the Doric order—the style emphasises strength and masculinity.

The Roman adaptation of the Doric order began around the 1st century BCE. Unlike traditional Doric columns, the Roman columns usually feature bases along with smooth shafts rather than fluted ones. The Doric style had another wave of popularity during the Renaissance in the 1500s, and during the Greek Revival period around the early and mid 1800s. 

Columns made in the Doric order are distinguishable from Ionic and Corinthian columns in the following ways. The most obvious tell-tale signs of a Doric column include simple capitals and no base.

Doric columns are the shortest and stockiest—this contributes to their “strong” appearance. A Doric column’s height is four to eight times its diameter, making it the most squat of all the orders.

These columns sit directly on the structure’s flat pavement platform, with no base at the bottom of the column (which you’ll usually find in the other orders).

The capital at the top of a Doric column is the least ornamental of all the orders. The smooth, rounded capital directly meets a square abacus that then intersects with the horizontal beam above.

In the Greek Doric order, shafts were fluted—usually with 20 parallel grooves around the column’s diameter. But in later Roman styles, the shafts were often smooth.

On a Doric structure’s entablature, above the columns, ornamentation includes alternative triglyphs and metopes. The triglyphs are three vertical rectangles, representing wooden beam ends—the Doric order was adapted from an earlier wooden style of architecture, so these triglyphs were purely decorative when stone became the norm. The metopes are flat, sculpted panels that often tell some sort of story.

The Doric problem, also known as the corner conflict, is a design predicament whereby the column on each corner of a structure doesn’t line up with the triglyph above it. In the Doric order, typically each column has one triglyph directly over it, and one triglyph centered between each column. But above the last column on each end, the triglyph doesn’t fall directly centered over the column.

There are a few potential solutions to the corner conflict. In the “archaic” solution, the corner metopes are broadened, but the triglyphs are still not centered on the corner columns so the columns can stay the same distance apart. In the “classic” solution, the last two columns are set slightly closer together—this gives more visual strength to the corners, and keeps the triglyphs and metopes all even and centered. In the Roman adaptation, they added a half metope at each corner, not requiring triglyphs to bookend the entablature. 

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Some of the most well-known buildings of ancient Greece and Rome have Doric columns. You’ll also see examples on many classical Greek Revival structures built in the 1700s and 1800s.

Perhaps the most famous example of a Doric building, the Parthenon in Athens was built to honor the goddess Athena in the 5th century BCE. It features fluted Doric columns fairly close together, with heights that are 5.5 times their diameters.

The Propylaea is the gateway to the Acropolis of Athens, designed in the Doric order. Built in the 430s BC, the Propylaea was never fully finished—but here you’ll see an illustration of six of its Doric columns.

Built in Berlin in 1788, the Brandenburg Gate is a neoclassical monument and one of the best-known examples of the Doric order. It has six fluted Doric columns on either side, and its design was based on the Propylaea.

Built by John Russell Pope in 1919, Union Station in Richmond is a stately, monumental building constructed during the high of the railroad boom. Today, it’s the Science Museum of Virginia.

Built in 1824, the Second Bank in Philadelphia was the second federally authorized National Bank in the United States. It was built by architect William Strickland in the Greek Revival style. Today, it serves as an art gallery.

This Roman temple was part of the Greek Revival movement, built around 1505, supposedly, on the spot where St. Peter was crucified. It has a ring of exterior columns in the Tuscan style, which is a Roman adaptation of the Doric order.

This federal building was built by HBRA Architects in partnership with the GSA. It’s a 127,000-square-foot, two-story building based on classical Greek design and designed in the Doric order.