What is a portico and why is it needed?

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Answering the question of what a portico is is quite simple. It is an architectural element used by people since ancient Greece. If you think you've never seen him, you're wrong. Take a look at the modern Russian 100 ruble banknote, on the side where the Bolshoi Theater building is depicted. Eight columns pushed forward, crowned with a triangular roof, on which there is a sculpture of Apollo on a quadriga by Klodt - this is the portico. But about where and when this architectural element appeared, which of the famous buildings it adorns, we will try to tell in this article.

What is this?

The word "portico" comes from the Latin porticus, which means "gallery". A portico in architecture is a protruding part of a building formed by such load-bearing elements that support floors, such as columns, arches or pilasters. It is usually bounded on the inside by a building wall and open on one or more outside sides. Thus, this element consists of three main parts: the columns, the entablature resting on them and the pediment crowning the entire structure. What does the portico look like? A photo,the one below demonstrates this well.

For the first time, the portico was made by ancient Greek architects. They used it not only as an architectural element, but also as a separate structure. From ancient Greece, the portico was borrowed and subsequently successfully used by builders in ancient Rome. It was from there that it spread throughout the world and had a great influence on many European cultures. They also knew what a portico was in medieval Europe, where it adorned the facades of temples and palaces. It was especially popular in European classicism of the 18th-19th centuries.

Why is it needed?

Architects use this element to solve various problems:

• for decorating the central entrance to the building;
• as a compositional link between the interior and the main entrance;
• as the final element of the central spatial axis of the palace and park ensemble.

Views

Telling about what a portico is, it is important to note a large number of its types. If you do not go into architectural and construction subtleties, then the simplest classification is based on the number of columns used in a particular case.

Four-column, as the name suggests, has four pillars. It was widely used in ancient Greek and Roman architecture in the construction of temples and public buildings. The most famous four-column portico in architecture is the north one in the White House in the USA.

The six-column adorned the facades of Doric buildings and religious buildings of Ancient Greece, such as the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sunia or the Temple of Concord at Agrigenta. This type of portico was also used to decorate some temples in the Ionic style, such as the Erechtheion in the Athenian Acropolis. After the colonization of the southern regions of Italy by the Greeks, it was adopted by the Etruscans and Romans. Today, one of the best preserved examples of a Roman six-columned portico is the Maison Carré in Nîmes, France. And in St. Petersburg, on the pavilions of the Admir alty overlooking the Neva embankment, you can see classic Russian examples of these architectural elements.

Octastyle is a portico with eight pillars. They were used in classical Greek architecture quite rarely, but such buildings with these elements as the Roman Pantheon or the Athenian Parthenon have survived to this day. This type of portico also includes those that adorn the facade of the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow and the building of the Synod in St. Petersburg.

Decastyle is, for example, the portico of the New Hermitage in St. Petersburg or University College London of ten pillars.

City of Porticos – Bologna

If in all other cities and countries you need to look for buildings decorated with this element, then in Italian Bologna, any resident knows what a portico is and will gladly show you how to get to the city center. About 38 km of arcades are located only in the historical center, and covered portico galleries run through the entirecity.

The story of their appearance is quite interesting. In medieval Bologna, the issue of industrial and commercial space was quite acute. The officials of that time came up with a rather ingenious way out: they decided to expand the usable area of buildings by moving part of the territory to the street. In addition, such placement of various enterprises and industries in open areas attracted the attention of local residents and visitors. Initially, their vaults were supported by wooden beams, which were then replaced with marble and stone pillars. Many of them have not only architectural, but also historical value.