Ancient Greek temple three steps, the "crepidoma". The uppermost level of the "crepidoma" provides the surface on which the columns and walls are placed; it is called stylobate. Placed on the stylobate are the vertical column shafts, tapering towards the top. They are normally made of several separately cut column drums. Depending on the architectural order, a different number of flutings are cut into the column shaft: Doric columns have 18 to 20 flutings, Ionic and Corinthian ones normally have 24. Early Ionic columns had up to 48 flutings. While Doric columns stand directly on the stylobate, Ionic and Corinthian ones possess a
Ancient Greek art the west coast of Turkey) and some of the Aegean islands, probably beginning in the 6th century. The Doric style was more formal and austere, the Ionic more relaxed and decorative. The more ornate Corinthian order was a later development of the Ionic, initially apparently only used inside buildings, and using Ionic forms for everything except the capitals. The famous and well-preserved Choragic Monument of Lysicrates near the Athens Acropolis (335/334) is the first known use of the Corinthian order on the exterior of a building. Most of the best known surviving Greek buildings, such as the Parthenon and the