In
classical architecture
Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the works of the Roman architect ...
, a colonnade is a long sequence of
columns joined by their
entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or curved. The space enclosed may be covered or open. In
St. Peter's Square in Rome,
Bernini's great colonnade encloses a vast open elliptical space.
When in front of a building, screening the door (Latin ''porta''), it is called a
portico. When enclosing an open court, a
peristyle. A portico may be more than one rank of columns deep, as at the
Pantheon
Pantheon may refer to:
* Pantheon (religion), a set of gods belonging to a particular religion or tradition, and a temple or sacred building
Arts and entertainment Comics
*Pantheon (Marvel Comics), a fictional organization
* ''Pantheon'' (Lone St ...
in Rome or the
stoae of
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cu ...
.
When the
intercolumniation is alternately wide and narrow, a colonnade may be termed "araeosystyle" (Gr. αραιος, "widely spaced", and συστυλος, "with columns set close together"), as in the case of the western porch of
St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglicanism, Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London ...
and the
east front of the Louvre.
History
Colonnades have been built since ancient times and interpretations of the classical model have continued through to modern times, and Neoclassical styles remained popular for centuries.
At the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
, for example, porticos are continued along the front as a colonnade. The porch of columns that surrounds the
Lincoln Memorial in
Washington, D.C. (in style a ''peripteral'' classical temple) can be termed a colonnade. As well as the traditional use in buildings and monuments, colonnades are used in sports stadiums such as the
Harvard Stadium
Harvard Stadium is a U-shaped college football stadium in the northeast United States, located in the Allston neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. The stadium is owned and operated by Harvard University and is home to the Harvard Crimson footb ...
in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, where the entire horseshoe-shaped stadium is topped by a colonnade. The longest colonnade in the United States, with 36
Corinthian columns, is the
New York State Education Building in Albany, New York.
New York State Department of Education Building
Emporis. Retrieved on 2009-5-23.
Notable colonnades
Ancient world
File:Luxor Temple R07.jpg, The colonnade of Amenhotep III at the Luxor temple
File:Reconstruction of Stoa of Attalos (3357410911).jpg, The Stoa of Attalos
The Stoa of Attalos (also spelled Attalus) was a stoa (covered walkway or portico) in the Agora of Athens, Greece. It was built by and named after King Attalos II of Pergamon, who ruled between 159 BC and 138 BC. The current building was rec ...
in the reconstructed Ancient Agora of Athens
The ancient Agora of Athens (also called the Classical Agora) is the best-known example of an ancient Greek agora, located to the northwest of the Acropolis and bounded on the south by the hill of the Areopagus and on the west by the hill kn ...
File:Palmyra, Syria - 2.jpg, The Great Colonnade at Palmyra, Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
File:Baalbek-Jupiter.jpg, Baalbeck, Lebanon
File:Colonnade in Ephesus.jpg, Ephesus
File:Station of Venezia Santa Lucia (7803866220).jpg, Modern colonnade at the Santa Lucia rail station, Venice
Renaissance and Baroque periods
File:Colonnade in Palacio de Carlos V.JPG, Palace of Charles V, Granada (1527)
File:St Peter's Square, Vatican City - April 2007.jpg, Bernini's colonnade St. Peter's Square, Vatican City
Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—'
* german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ')
* pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—'
* pt, Cidade do Vati ...
(1660s)
File:St. Peter's Square, 1992.jpg, Detail of St. Peter's Square colonnade
File:Louvre Kolonnaden.JPG, Colonnade of the Louvre, Paris (1670)
Neoclassical
File:P1030420 Paris VIII église de la Madeleine colonnes façade occidentale rwk.JPG, The church of La Madeleine, Paris (consecrated 1842)
File:GPOSydneyInterior2007.jpg, Vaulted colonnade in the General Post Office, Sydney
The General Post Office (abbreviation GPO, commonly known as the Sydney GPO) is a heritage- listed landmark building located in Martin Place, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The original building was constructed in two stages beginning in ...
(1890s)
File:Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge University.jpg, Main entrance to the Fitzwilliam Museum
The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities museum of the University of Cambridge. It is located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge. It was founded in 1816 under the will of Richard FitzWilliam, 7th V ...
, University of Cambridge (19th century)
File: Brussels 3 157.jpg, Colonnade of the Arcade du Cinquantenaire
The Cinquantenaire Arcade (french: Arcade(s) du Cinquantenaire, nl, Arcade(s) van het Jubelpark) is a memorial arcade in the centre of the Parc du Cinquantenaire/Jubelpark in Brussels, Belgium. The centrepiece is a monumental triple arch kno ...
, Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
(1905)
File:NYSED.jpg, New York State Education Building, Albany, New York (1912)
Modern interpretations
File:Palacio da Alvorada Exterior.jpg, Palácio da Alvorada
The Palácio da Alvorada () is the official residence of the President of Brazil. It is located in the national capital of Brasília, on a peninsula at the margins of Paranoá Lake. The building was designed by Oscar Niemeyer and built between ...
, by Oscar Niemeyer
Oscar Ribeiro de Almeida Niemeyer Soares Filho (15 December 1907 – 5 December 2012), known as Oscar Niemeyer (), was a Brazilian architect considered to be one of the key figures in the development of modern architecture. Niemeyer was ...
, in Brasília
Brasília (; ) is the federal capital of Brazil and seat of government of the Federal District. The city is located at the top of the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West region. It was founded by President Juscelino Kubitsche ...
, Brazil (1958)
File:Johnson spanish music 1916 3.jpg, Lebus Court, Bridges Hall of Music, Pomona College, by Myron Hunt in Claremont, California, United States (1915)
File:Scripps College for Women-10.jpg, Balch Hall, Scripps College by Sumner Hunt and Gordon Kaufmann in Claremont, California, United States (1929)
See also
* Arcade
*Cloister
A cloister (from Latin ''claustrum'', "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, commonly against ...
*Engaged column
In architecture, an engaged column is a column embedded in a wall and partly projecting from the surface of the wall, sometimes defined as semi- or three-quarter detached. Engaged columns are rarely found in classical Greek architecture, and then ...
References
{{Authority control
Columns and entablature
Architectural elements