Illustrated Architecture Dictionary

Portico
POOR ti coh
Plural: porticos, porticoes


A roofed entrance porch supported on at least one side by columns

Classical Greek architeture: A portico was the principal porch or entrance to a Greek temple, and was roofed and usually open at the sides. The number of columns that made up a portico determined its architectural name. For example, tetrastyle (four columns), hexastyle (six columns), octastyle (eight columns), decastyle (ten columns).

Often, a classical building consisted of several colonnades, several rows deep. In Classical architecture, the front row or rows is known as the portico,; when surrounding a building or an open court or square, a peristyle.

Peripteral portico: portico that extends around two or more sides of a house


Examples from Buffalo:


Other examples:


Photos and their arrangement © 2002 Chuck LaChiusa
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