Portal (architecture)

Portal of Chartres Cathedral.

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.

Examples

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  Baroque portal of a private Palace in Brescia

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  Portal of the Church of São Martinho de Cedofeita, with nested arches

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  Gothic portal of the cathedral of Metz

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  Portal of the church in Hronský Beňadik

Other uses

The term portal is also applied to the ends of a tunnel.

References

1. Ching, Francis (1997). A Visual Dictionary of Architecture. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold. ISBN 0-442-02462-2.