Doric Columns and the Other Orders

In addition to being the earliest, and the style used in the Parthenon, the Doric column is also the simplest. Not only does it stand on the bare floor, but it is topped by a plain capital (a convex disk [called an echinus] and a square block [called an abacus] formed from a single piece of marble) instead of the intricate scroll work of the Ionic or elaborate acanthus leaves of the Corinthian. Just beneath the echinus is the neck of the column, the hypotrachelion, a continuation of the column but separated by indentations and decorated with parallel, horizontal rings. The abacus holds up the architrave, a four-sided stone beam reaching from one pillar to the next, which, together with the frieze and cornice forms what's called the entablature. The central part, called the shaft, was made of separate circular pieces joined together in the center. The exterior of the shaft has (traditionally, 20) vertical carved ridges, referred to as fluting.