Portico

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Portico

A portico (from Italian

Italian language

Italian is a Romance languages spoken by about 63 million people as a first language, primarily in Italy. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four Linguistic geography of Switzerlands....
) is a porch

Porch

A porch is a structure attached to a building, forming a covered entrance to a vestibule or doorway. It is external to the walls of the main building proper, but may be enclosed by screen, latticework, broad windows, or other light frame walls extending from the main structure....
that is leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade

Colonnade

In classical architecture, a colonnade denotes a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, as in the famous elliptically curving colonnades that Bernini added to the fa?ade of The apostel Peter's Basilica in Rome, which embrace and define the Piazza....
, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by column

Column

File:National Capitol Columns - Washington, D.C..jpgA column in structural engineering is a vertical structural element that transmits, through physical compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below....
s or enclosed by walls. This idea first appeared in Ancient Greece

Ancient Greece

The term Ancient Greece refers to the period of History of Greece lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca. 1100 BC and the Dorian invasion, to 146 BC and the Roman Republic conquest of Greece after the Battle of Corinth ....
and has influenced many cultures, including most Western cultures.

Some noteworthy examples of porticos are the East Portico of the United States Capitol

United States Capitol

The United States Capitol serves as the seat of government for the United States Congress, the legislature of the federal government of the United States....
, the portico adorning the Pantheon

Pantheon, Rome

The Pantheon is a building in Rome which was originally built as a temple to all the gods of Ancient Rome, and rebuilt circa 126 AD during Hadrian's reign....
in Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
and the portico of University College London

University College London

University College London is a university institution and constituent college of the University of London based primarily in London, England, United Kingdom....
.

Bologna

Bologna

Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy, in the Po Valley , between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, exactly between the Reno River and the S?vena River....
, Italy

Italy

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I am living in Italy temporarily and recently visited Bologna. I was impressed by all the porticoes....

Encyclopedia

A portico (from Italian

Italian language

Porch

Colonnade

Column

Ancient Greece

United States Capitol

The United States Capitol serves as the seat of government for the United States Congress, the legislature of the federal government of the United States....
, the portico adorning the Pantheon

Pantheon, Rome

The Pantheon is a building in Rome which was originally built as a temple to all the gods of Ancient Rome, and rebuilt circa 126 AD during Hadrian's reign....
in Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
and the portico of University College London

University College London

University College London is a university institution and constituent college of the University of London based primarily in London, England, United Kingdom....
.

Bologna

Bologna

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
, is very famous for its porticos. In total, there are over 45 kilometres of arcades, some 38 in the city center. The longest portico in the world, about 3.5 km, leads from the edge of the city up to Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca

Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca, Bologna

The Sanctuary of the Madonna of San Luca is a basilica church in Bologna, central Italy, sited atop Colle or Monte della Guardia, in a forested hill some 300 meters above the plain, just south-west of the historical center of the city....
. In Turin

Turín

Tur?n is a municipality in the Ahuachap?n Department Departments of El Salvador of El Salvador....
, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
, porticos stretch out for 18 kilometres.

Palladio was a pioneer of using temple-fronts for secular buildings. In the UK, the temple-front applied to The Vyne

The Vyne

The Vyne is a 16th-century country house outside Sherborne St John, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England.The Vyne was built for William Sandys, 1st Baron Sandys of the Vyne, King Henry VIII of England's Lord Chamberlain....
, Hampshire was the first portico applied to an English country house

English country house

The English country house is generally accepted as a large house or mansion, once in the ownership of an individual who also usually owned another great house in town allowing one to spend time in the country and in the city....
.

A pronaos is the inner area of the portico of a Greek

Greek temple

Greek temples were structures built to house deity statues within Greek sanctuaries in Greek paganism. The temples themselves did usually not directly serve a cult purpose, since the sacrifices and rituals dedicated to the respective deity took place outside them....
or Roman temple

Roman temple

In the ancient religion of Roman paganism, practitioners often performed their worship at a temple....
, situated between the portico's colonnade or walls and the entrance to the cella
Cella

A cella or naos , is the inner chamber of a temple in classical architecture, or a shop facing the street in domestic Roman architecture ....
, 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 is Greek

Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
for "before a temple". In Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
, a pronaos is also referred to as an anticum or prodomus.

Types of portico

The different variants of porticos are named by the number of columns they have.

Tetrastyle

The tetrastyle has four columns; it was commonly employed by the Greek

Ancient Greece

Etruscan civilization

Etruscan civilization is the modern English name given to the culture and way of life of a people of ancient Italy and Corsica whom the ancient Romans called Etrusci or Tusci....
s for small structures such as public buildings and amphiprostyle

Amphiprostyle

In classical architecture, Amphiprostyle denotes a temple with a portico both at the front and the rear. This never exceeded the use of four columns in the front, and four in the rear....
s.

The Romans

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC....
favoured the four columned portico for their pseudoperipteral

Pseudoperipteral

In architecture, a pseudoperipteral building is one with free standing columns in the front , but the columns along the sides are engaged column in the peripheral walls of the building....
temples like the Temple of Portunus

Temple of Portunus

The Temple of Portunus was the main temple dedicated to the god Portunes in Rome. It is in the Ionic order and is still more familiar by its erroneous designation, the Temple of Fortuna Virilis given it by antiquary....
, and for amphiprostyle

Amphiprostyle

Temple of Venus and Roma

The Temple of Venus and Roma was the largest known Roman temple in Ancient Rome. Located at the far east side of the Forum Romanum near the Colosseum, it was dedicated to the goddesses Venus #Epithets and Roma Aeterna ....
, and for the prostyle

Prostyle

Prostyle is an architectural term defining free standing columns that are widely spaced apart in a row. The term is often used as an adjective when referring to the portico of a classical architecture building which projects from the main structure....
entrance porticos of large public buildings like the Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine. Roman provincial capitals also manifested tetrastyle construction, such as the Capitoline Temple

Capitoline Temple

The Capitoline Temple of Volubilis is an ancient structure from the Roman period of Volubilis, extant in present day Morocco. This building incorporates a tetrastyle design and was dedicated to the Roman Emperor Macrinus....
in Volubilis

Volubilis

Volubilis is an List of archaeological sites in Morocco situated near Meknes between Fez, Morocco and Rabat along the N13 road . The nearest town is Moulay Idriss....
.

The North Portico of the White House

White House

The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., it was built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the late Georgian architecture and has been the executive residence of every U.S....
is perhaps the most notable four-columned portico in the United States.

Hexastyle

Hexastyle buildings had six columns and were the standard facade

Facade

A facade or fa?ade is generally one side of the exterior of a building, especially the front, but also sometimes the sides and rear. The Word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
in canonical Greek Doric

Doric order

The Doric order was one of the Classical order of Architecture of Ancient Greece or classical architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic order and the Corinthian order....
architecture between the archaic period 600–550 B.C up to the Age of Pericles

Age of Pericles

The Golden Age is the term used to denote the historical period in Ancient Greece lasting roughly from the end of the Persian Wars in 448 BC to either the death of Pericles 429 BC or the end of the Peloponnesian War in 404 BC....
450–430 B.C.

Greek hexastyle

Some well-known examples of classical Doric hexastyle Greek temple

Greek temple

The group at Paestum
Paestum

Paestum is the classical Roman name of a major Graeco-Roman city in the Campania region of Italy. It is located in the north of Cilento, near the coast about 85 km SE of Naples in the province of Salerno, and belongs to the commune of Capaccio....
comprising the Temple of Hera
Hera

In the Twelve Olympians of classical Greek Mythology, Hera or Here was the wife and older sister of Zeus. Her chief function was as goddess of women and marriage....
(c. 550 B.C), the Temple of Apollo
Apollo

In Greek mythology and Roman mythology, Apollo , is one of the most important and many-sided of the Twelve Olympians. The ideal of the kouros , Apollo has been variously recognized as a god of light and the sun; truth and prophecy; archery; medicine and healing; music, poetry, and the arts; and more....
(c. 450 B.C), the first Temple of Athena
Athena

In Greek mythology, Athena is the shrewd companion of Hero and the goddess of Hero endeavour. She is the virgin patron of Athens, which built the Parthenon to worship her....
("Basilica") (c. 500 B.C) and the second Temple of Hera (460–440 B.C)
The Temple of Athena
Athena

In Greek mythology, Athena is the shrewd companion of Hero and the goddess of Hero endeavour. She is the virgin patron of Athens, which built the Parthenon to worship her....
Aphaia (the invisible) at Aegina
Aegina

Aegina is one of the Greek islands of Greece in the Saronic Gulf, 17 miles from Athens. Tradition derives the name from Aegina, the mother of Aeacus, who was born in and ruled the island....
c. 495 B.C
Temple E at Selinus (465–450 B.C) dedicated to Hera
The Temple of Zeus
Zeus

Zeus in Greek mythology is the king of the gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus and the god of the sky father and List of thunder gods. His symbols are the thunderbolt, eagle, bull , and oak....
at Olympia
Olympia, Greece

Olympia , a sanctuary of ancient Greece in Elis, is known for having been the site of the Olympic Games in classical times, comparable in importance to the Pythian Games held in Delphi....
, now a ruin
Temple F or the so-called "Temple of Concord
Temple of Concord

The Temple of Concord in the Rome, Italy was the city's primary temple dedicated to the Roman gods Concordia . It was situated at the western end of the Roman Forum....
" at Agrigentum (c. 430 B.C), one of the best-preserved classical Greek temples, retaining almost all of its peristyle
Peristyle

In Architecture of ancient Greece and Roman architecture a peristyle is a columned porch or open colonnade in a building that surrounds a court that may contain an internal garden....
and entablature
Entablature

An entablature refers to the superstructure of moldings and bands which lie horizontally above columns, resting on their capital . Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and are commonly divided into the architrave—the supporting member carried from column to column, pier or wall immediately above; the frieze&md...
.
The "unfinished temple" at Segesta
Segesta

Segesta was the political center of the Elymian people. It is placed in the northwestern part of Sicily, in the province of Trapani and in the comune of Calatafimi-Segesta....
(c. 430 B.C)
The Hephaesteum below the Acropolis
Acropolis

Acropolis literally means city on the edge . For purposes of defense, early settlers naturally chose elevated ground, frequently a hill with precipitous sides....
at Athens, long known as the "Theseum" (449–444 B.C), also one of the most intact Greek temples surviving from antiquity)
The Temple of Poseidon
Poseidon

In Greek mythology, Poseidon was the god of the sea and, as "Earth-Shaker," of earthquakes. The name of the god Nethuns in Etruscan mythology was adopted in Latin for Neptune in Roman mythology: both were sea gods analogous to Poseidon....
on Cape Sunium (c. 449 B.C)

Hexastyle was also applied to Ionic

Ionic order

The Ionic order column forms one of the Classical order of classical architecture, the other two canonic orders being the Doric order and the Corinthian order....
temples, such as the prostyle porch of the sanctuary of Athena on the Erechtheum

Erechtheum

The Erechtheum is an ancient Greek temple on the north side of the Acropolis, Athens of Athens in Greece....
, at the Acropolis of Athens

Acropolis of Athens

The Acropolis of Athens is the best known acropolis in the world. Although there are many other acropolises in Greece, the significance of the Acropolis of Athens is such that it is commonly known as The Acropolis without qualification....
.

Roman hexastyle

With the colonization by the Greeks of Southern Italy, hexastyle was adopted by the Etruscan

Etruscan civilization

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC....
. Roman taste favoured narrow pseudoperipteral

Pseudoperipteral

Amphiprostyle

Podium

A podium is a platform that is used to raise something to a short distance above its surroundings. In architecture a building can rest on a large podium....
s for the added pomp and grandeur conferred by considerable height. The Maison Carrée

Maison Carrée

The Maison Carr?e at N?mes in southern France is one of the best preserved temples to be found anywhere in the territory of the former Roman Empire....
at Nîmes

Nîmes

N?mes is a city in southern France. It is the capital of the Gard Departments of France. N?mes has a rich history, dating back to the Roman Empire, and it is a popular tourist destination....
, France

France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
, is the best-preserved Roman hexastyle temple surviving from antiquity

Classical antiquity

Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome....
.

Octostyle

Octostyle buildings had eight columns; they were considerably rarer than the hexastyle ones in the classical Greek architectural canon

Canon

Canon may refer to:* Canon , a body of works considered genuine or official within a fictional universe* Canon , a Japanese imaging and optical products corporation...
. The best-known octostyle buildings surviving from Antiquity are the Parthenon

Parthenon

The Parthenon is a Greek temple of the Greek gods Athena, built in the 5th century BC on the Acropolis of Athens. It is the most important surviving building of Classical Greece, generally considered to be the culmination of the development of the Doric order....
in Athens

Athens

Athens , the Capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery; as one of the List of cities by time of continuous habitation, its recorded history spans around 3,400 years....
, built during the Age of Pericles (450–430 B.C), and the Pantheon

Pantheon, Rome

The Pantheon is a building in Rome which was originally built as a temple to all the gods of Ancient Rome, and rebuilt circa 126 AD during Hadrian's reign....
in Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
(125 A.D). The destroyed Temple of Divus Augustus in Rome, the centre of the Augustan cult, is shown on Roman coins of the 2nd century AD as having been built in octostyle.

Decastyle

The decastyle has ten columns; as in the temple of Apollo Didymaeus

Apollo

In Greek mythology and Roman mythology, Apollo , is one of the most important and many-sided of the Twelve Olympians. The ideal of the kouros , Apollo has been variously recognized as a god of light and the sun; truth and prophecy; archery; medicine and healing; music, poetry, and the arts; and more....
at Miletus

Miletus

Miletus was an ancient city on the western coast of Anatolia , near the mouth of the Maeander River in ancient Caria. Evidence of first settlement at the site has been made inaccessible by the rise of sea level and deposition of sediments from the Maeander....
, and the portico of University College London

University College London

University College London is a university institution and constituent college of the University of London based primarily in London, England, United Kingdom....
.

Portico

Types of portico

Tetrastyle

Hexastyle

Greek hexastyle

Roman hexastyle

Octostyle

Decastyle

See also

Line notes