Portal (architecture)
{{Other uses|Portal (disambiguation)}}
{{Short description|Access opening in a wall of a structure}}
{{One source|date=June 2018}}
Image:Doorway from Notre-Dame at Reugny MET DP132214v2.jpg portal from Notre-Dame at Reugny, from the late 12th century, made of limestone, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City)]]
A portal is an opening in a wall of a building, gate or fortification, especially a grand entrance to an important structure.{{cite book |first= Francis |last= Ching |year= 1997 |title= A Visual Dictionary of Architecture |location= New York |publisher= Van Nostrand Reinhold |isbn= 0-442-02462-2}}{{Page needed |date= August 2017}}
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.{{Citation needed|date=August 2011}}
Examples
File:Baroque portal in Brescia.jpg|Baroque portal of a private palace in Brescia
File:Quito Iglesia de El Carmen Bajo Southwestern carved door.jpg|Baroque portal of the Church of El Carmen Bajo Monastery in Quito
File:Dülmen, St.-Viktor-Kirche, Eingangsportal -- 2021 -- 4504-10.jpg|Wooden portal of the Church of St. Victor in Dülmen
File:Porto - Sant Martí de Cedofeita - Façana principal.JPG|Romanesque portal of the Church of São Martinho de Cedofeita, with nested arches
File:Hronsky Benadik-Hlavny portal klastorneho kostola.jpg|Gothic portal of the church in Hronský Beňadik
File:FI-Tampere-2019-09-08T153429EEST lc.JPG|Romantic portal of the St. John's Cathedral in Tampere
File:Metz Cathédrale St. Étienne Portal 2.jpg|Gothic portal of the Cathedral of Saint Stephen in Metz
File:Karaman Hatuniye Medresi 4812.jpg|Taşkapı (stone gatehouse) of the Hatuniye Medresesi in Karaman
File:Murad darvazası.JPG|Murad's Gate in the Palace of the Shirvanshahs, Baku
File:Palacio del Marqués de Dos Aguas.JPG|Rococo portal of the Palace of the Marqués de Dos Aguas in Valencia
File:Tochtportaal - Sint-Baafskathedraal Gent (5).jpg|Portal of the Saint Bavo's Cathedral, Ghent
Other uses
The term portal is also applied to the ends of a tunnel.{{Citation needed|date=June 2018}}
See also
References
{{Portal|Architecture}}
{{Commons category|Portals}}
{{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}