Portico: Difference between revisions

{{distinguish|Porticus|Portego}}

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 [[column]]s or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in [[ancient Greece]] and has influenced many cultures, including most [[Western world|Western cultures]].

Some noteworthy examples of porticos are the East Portico of the [[United States Capitol]], the portico adorning the [[Pantheon, Rome|Pantheon]] in [[Rome]] and the portico of [[University College London]]. Porticos are sometimes topped with [[pediments]]. <!-- [[Bologna]], [[Italy]], is famous for its porticos. In total, there are over {{convert|45|km|0|abbr=on}} of [[Arcade (architecture)|arcades]], some 38 in the city center. The longest portico in the world, about {{convert|3.5|km|0|abbr=on}}, extends from the edge of the city to [[Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca, Bologna|Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca]]. In [[Bologna]], [[Italy]], porticos stretch for {{convert|18|km|0|abbr=on}}. [There appears to be some confusion here, perhaps with ''arcade''.] -->

A '''pronaos''' ({{IPAc-en|UK|p|r|oʊ|ˈ|n|eɪ|.|ɒ|s}} or {{IPAc-en|US|p|r|oʊ|ˈ|n|eɪ|.|ə|s}}) is the inner area of the portico of a [[Greek temple|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'' ({{lang|grc|{{Script|Grek|πρόναος}}}}) is [[Greek language|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.

== Types ==

The different variants of porticos are named by the number of columns they have. The "style" suffix comes from the Greek {{lang|grc|{{script|Grek|στῦλος}}}}, "column".<ref name="EB1911">{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Decastyle |volume=7 |page=910}}</ref> In Greek and Roman architecture, the pronaos of a temple is typically topped with a [[pediment]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gates |first=Charles |title=Ancient Cities: The Archaeology of Urban Life in the Ancient Near East and Egypt, Greece and Rome |date=2013 |publisher=Taylor and Francis |isbn=9781134676620 |location=New York |pages=209}}</ref>

=== Tetrastyle ===

[[File:PiazzaTemple delof Bocca della Verità - panoramio (1)Portunus.jpg|thumb|right|[[Temple of Portunus]] in Rome, with its [[tetrastyle]] portico of four [[Ionic order|Ionic]] [[columns]]]]

The [[tetrastyle]] has four columns; it was commonly employed by the [[Ancient Greece|GreekGreeks]]s and the [[Etruscan civilization|EtruscanEtruscans]]s for small structures such as public buildings and [[amphiprostyle]]s.

=== Hexastyle ===

[[Hexastyle]] buildings had six columns and were the standard [[façade]] in [[Canon (basic principle)|canonical]] Greek [[Doric order|Doric]] architecture between the archaic period 600&ndash;550600–550&nbsp;BCE up to the [[Age of Pericles]] 450&ndash;430450–430&nbsp;BCE.

* [[Paestum|The group at Paestum]] comprising the Temple of [[Hera]] (''c.'' 550&nbsp;BCE), the Temple of [[Apollo]] (''c.'' 450&nbsp;BCE), the first Temple of [[Athena]] ("Basilica") (''c.'' 500&nbsp;BCE) and the second Temple of Hera (460&ndash;440460–440&nbsp;BCE)

* Temple&nbsp;E at [[Selinus]] (465&ndash;450465–450&nbsp;BCE) dedicated to Hera

* Temple&nbsp;F or the so-called "[[Temple of ConcordConcordia]]" at [[Agrigentum]] (''c.''&nbsp;430&nbsp;BCE), one of the best-preserved classical Greek temples, retaining almost all of its [[peristyle]] and [[entablature]]

* The [[Temple of Hephaestus]] below the [[Acropolis]] at Athens, long known as the "Theseum" (449&ndash;444449–444&nbsp;BCE), also one of the most intact Greek temples surviving from antiquity

==== Roman hexastyle ====

With the colonization by the Greeks of [[Southern Italy]], hexastyle was adopted by the [[Etruscan civilization|EtruscanEtruscans]]s and subsequently acquired by the [[Ancient Rome|ancient Romans]]. Roman taste favoured narrow [[pseudoperipteral]] and [[amphiprostyle]] buildings with tall columns, raised on [[podium]]s for the added pomp and grandeur conferred by considerable height. The [[Maison Carrée]] at [[Nîmes]], [[France]], is the best-preserved Roman hexastyle temple surviving from [[Classical antiquity|antiquity]].

=== Octastyle ===

[[File:The Parthenon (3472367103).jpg|thumb|right|The western side of the [[octastyle]] [[Parthenon]] in Athens]]

== Gallery ==

Athens Acropolis Temple of Athena 02.jpg|[[Ancient Greek architecture|Ancient Greek]] portico with [[Ionic order|Ionic]] columns of the [[Temple of Athena Nike]] ([[Athens]], Greece)

== See also ==

*[[Outline of{{Annotated classicallink |Classical architecture]]}}

==Line notesCitations ==

== External links ==