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I built this with Stratum textures, so if you decide to download the map and want colours to actually match I suggest using Stratum as well.


TLDR: big building veri nice

This is my largest structure to date, and one of the more detailed. It started by me trying to utilise the 19 block diameter triumphal column from my previous build as a structural element. Given that it is meant to be a Corinthian column its height is 10 times the diameter, plus the 3ish diameter pedestal, plus the 2,5ish diameter entablature followed by the pediment. The pediment height is determined by how many columns there are in a line in the portico. In my case I chose to follow the portico as it would have speculatively been in the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus, a hexastyle (6 columns) with two rows of columns followed by a row of pilasters in the portico. It would also have Vitruvius’ favourite intercolumnation - eustyle, or 2.25 diameter distance between columns with 3 diameters in the centre. Given classical proportions for a pediment this would yield a 0.2 ratio of height to width. Thus the total height of the building already almost reaches the minecraft height limit. So not really enough space for a statue on top.

I realised that all my previous attempts at classical porticos have been rather bland and almost fully built of quartz blocks (my equivalent to marble in Minecraft). However these followed a renaissance misconception about Roman architecture that we mostly and unfortunately still have to this day. Roman architecture and facades were almost never monotonous marble monoliths but were instead heavily painted with gay colours. This was my opportunity to correct Palladio and company and show the true beauty of this facade. Thus the columns were painted part red with green capitals, the frieze bluish, and the cornice red and green. The tympanum is painted red with a big eagle in the middle. Now the eagle design itself is a blatant anachronism as it is a rendition of a Russian imperial eagle. My reasoning was that I used crochet designs from Pinterest that neatly show you each block placement, and this was the design that fit the tympanum perfectly. I may want to change it later to some sort of pediment sculpture, but these are a pain to make.

After finishing the coffering of the portico ceiling I started to think about what to do with the rest of the building. Here however my strict classical rulebook took quite the beating as I thought up to recreate La Madeleine in Paris, a marvellous building and quite one of a kind. Similarly to my build it features a strict classical temple repertoire on the outside while shifting to a completely different interior. It is more resembling of either three pantheons stacked together or of Byzantine architecture, particularly the now lost Holy Apostles in Constantinople or San Marco in Venice. The latter two are in my opinion of a particular influence on the design albeit featuring a Greek cross plan while here the lateral naves are omitted. Yet apart from its structural plan it follows rather historicising neoclassical design in its features, something that brings the interior together with the exterior. So I took that up as my architectural basis, all the while it led to the building looking like a long noodle. The reason for that misfortune is that La Madeleine uses octostyle while I am using hexastyle. The remedy for this is addressed later.

The main colour scheme for my interior is white quartz with gold and green blocks, and various red, bluish and grey additions serving as semiprecious stones lookalikes. The green isn’t present in La Madeleine but I thought it’d be in line with verdant capitals and other decorations outside in the portico. Other main points of attraction are the paintings, which feature scenes of great generals and emperors. The one exception is the school of Athens painting in the main apse, which would tie nicely with the classical Graeco-Roman scheme of the build. Finally, there are the statues, of which there are quite a few. The main one in the big apse is of Julius Caesar, a great imperator of the Romans. In the lateral side apses near the entrance are Moses and Augustus, which is an odd pair, but both are seated so in a Minecraft build i doubt one can genuinely guess who each statue represents. Within the side aediculae there are columns of further six statues representing figures from antiquity.

The one thing I don’t quite like in terms of La Madeleine’s architectural choices is how the interior domes are treated on the outside. They are hidden by the continuous roof extending from the portico, fooling the onlooker into belief he is witnessing a regular Roman temple, which it certainly is not. I have mixed feelings about this: on the one hand it does achieve continuity of form, on the other it is deceptive and doesn’t take advantage of creative integration of the dome into a classical temple framework. And such integration isn’t unaccounted for in Roman buildings. Ever since the 2nd century onwards the eastern dome became more and more prevalent in Roman temples and baths. The Pantheon is probably the most famous of such structures. And once more there are the examples of Holy Apostles and San Marco which prominently show the domes as an exterior focal point to great effect. It is not to say that I subscribe to the postmodernist idea of function determining form, but I am of the opinion that certain structural elements should not be covered up just for the sake of continuous form.

That being said I left the domes visible, breaking the roof into three parts. This also helps mitigate the long noodle appearance of the structure by creating clear breaks in design. Two portico roofs on either end and the domes in the middle, surrounded by balustrades and statues of great viri of antiquity. The balustrades as such were not used in this way in Roman times but rather a renaissance invention, when Italians didn’t understand the how and why of their use by Romans architects. Yet given the already eclectic nature of the building I thought their inclusion acceptable and quite pleasing on the eye.

Once I finished the main temple building I thought it required an atrium, a courtyard of sorts. The lateral identical structures are reminiscent of forum of Augustus, as shown on 3d models I saw online. They are essentially stoas with an upper row of pilasters. They begin at the point where the roof of the temple’s portico gives way to the domes. This seeks to further delineate these distinct features of the temple’s plan while reducing the negative effect of its noodle shape. The intercolumnation is once more eustyle, roughly 2.25 diameters. However they don’t have a pedestal but instead are only slightly elevated by a few tiers of stairs. The column diameter is 11 blocks, yielding 110 blocks height plus 28 block entablature. The upper row of pilasters is 5 blocks in diameter and so is about 50 more blocks in height, yet now only having the cornice of 11 blocks, same as for the columns. I chose not to make a new entablature for 5 diameter pilasters since I just couldn’t be asked to do it all over again (it proved really painful aligning corner modillions and rosettes). But also there are real examples using the same technique so that my laziness isn’t completely out of place.

Interior upper floor is mirrored by pilasters and in between each is a niche with gold statues of great viri. I may have gone overboard with the thing’s height, as it reaches the entablature of the temple, creating a somewhat claustrophobic feeling when in front of the temple. Also it makes the temple stand out less. On the other hand it integrates better into the overall structure and fits the interior proportions better. It further allows to incorporate more colourful Roman decoration such as red pilasters.

The temple is connected to the side buildings via an arch of the same proportions as the stoas. However it only has the column level, making way for a cuadriga statue. This drop in height additionally serves to make the courtyard to feel less claustrophobic.

The exterior floor tiling inside the atrium I took from Plaza Mayor in Madrid, which is a similar type of structure in form. However in the centre portion I added commemorative blocks for the greatest emperors of Rome, ‘ROMAE MAGNI VIRI DICATA’. There are five dedications, AVGVSTVS PATER PATRIAE, TRAIANVS OPTIMVS PRINCEPS, SANCTVS CONSTANTINVS MAGNVS, ΆΓΙΟΣ ΙΟΥΣΤΙΝΙΑΝΟΣ, and ΒΑΣΊΛΕΟΣ ΠΟΡΦΙΡΟΓΈΝΝΙΤΟΣ. Roman Empire hasn’t ended in the 5th century but continued to 1453, hence the inclusion of Justinian and Basil II, one of the greatest yet underestimated emperors.

The final piece of the atrium enclosure is the colonnade serving as its main entrance. At first I thought of doing a Septizodium like design but realised that would put too many things into one structure, and opted for a less cumbersome design. The colonnade is the same height as the lateral buildings’ columns, and is crowned by six angel statues. This design is very open and light, and I absolutely love the look of an unimpeded colonnade standing proud in its own simple beauty.

So that’s that, I feel like I wrote a dissertation there, I didn’t realise I would be ranting for this long. I really can’t imagine who could find this wall of text of an interest to read, but at least I indulged my graphomania to the max.




Enjoy the map!