Types of Portico:
– Tetrastyle: Four columns used by Greeks and Etruscans for small structures; favored by Romans for pseudoperipteral temples and public buildings; notable example: North Portico of the White House.
– Hexastyle: Six columns standard in Greek Doric architecture; applied to Ionic temples like the sanctuary of Athena in Athens; Roman adoption in Southern Italy and France.
– Octastyle: Eight columns, rarer in classical Greek architecture; famous examples include the Parthenon in Athens and the Pantheon in Rome; Roman example: Temple of Divus Augustus.
– Decastyle: Ten columns, seen in the Temple of Apollo Didymaeus and University College London; rare Roman example on the Temple of Venus and Roma; longest portico: Portico of San Luca in Bologna.
Related Concepts:
– Classical architecture inspired by Greco-Roman principles.
– Cloister, gatehouse, gate tower, hypostyle, loggia.
– Overview of classical architecture, portals, porte-cochère.
– Stoa, veranda for covered walkways and open-air porches.
Citations:
– Decastyle entry in Encyclopædia Britannica.
– Reference to Greek Religion by W. Burkert.
– Decastyle in A Dictionary of Architecture and Building.
– Bologna city guide reference in The Daily Telegraph.
General References:
– Greek architecture in Encyclopædia Britannica.
– Books on Greek and Roman architecture from Taschen.
– External link to Wiktionary for further information.
This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2007) |
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cultures, including most Western cultures.
Porticos are sometimes topped with pediments. Palladio was a pioneer of using temple-fronts for secular buildings. In the UK, the temple-front applied to The Vyne, Hampshire, was the first portico applied to an English country house.
A pronaos (UK: /proʊˈneɪ.ɒs/ or US: /proʊˈneɪ.əs/) is the inner area of the portico of a Greek or Roman temple, situated between the portico's colonnade or walls and the entrance to the cella, or shrine. Roman temples commonly had an open pronaos, usually with only columns and no walls, and the pronaos could be as long as the cella. The word pronaos (πρόναος) is Greek for "before a temple". In Latin, a pronaos is also referred to as an anticum or prodomus. The pronaos of a Greek and Roman temple is typically topped with a pediment.
Definition from ChatGPT:
Portico:
A portico is a structure consisting of a roof supported by columns, typically attached to a building's entrance. It often serves as a covered walkway or porch.