Portal (architecture)
A portal is an opening in a wall of a building, gate or fortification, especially a grand entrance to an important structure.[1] Doors, metal gates, or portcullis in the opening can be used to control entry or exit. The surface surrounding the opening may be made of simple building materials or decorated with ornamentation. The elements of a portal can include the voussoir, tympanum, an ornamented mullion or trumeau between doors, and columns with carvings of saints in the westwork of a church.
Gothic portal from Notre-Dame at Reugny, from the late 12th century, made of limestone, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City)
Examples
Baroque portal of a private Palace in Brescia
Portal of the Church of São Martinho de Cedofeita, with nested arches
Portal of the church in Hronský Beňadik
Gothic portal of the cathedral of Metz
Hatuniye Medresesi ‘Taşkapı’ (stone gatehouse)
Other uses
The term portal is also applied to the ends of a tunnel.
References
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- Ching, Francis (1997). A Visual Dictionary of Architecture. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold. ISBN 0-442-02462-2.
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