Portal (architecture)

For other uses, see Portal (disambiguation).

A portal is an opening in a wall of a building, gate or fortification, especially a grand entrance to an important structure.

Gothic portal from Notre-Dame at Reugny, from the late 12th century, made of limestone, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City)

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
• 
  Baroque portal of the Church of El Carmen Bajo Monastery in Quito
• 
  Wooden portal of the Church of St. Victor in Dülmen
• 
  Romanesque portal of the Church of São Martinho de Cedofeita, with nested arches
• 
  Gothic portal of the church in Hronský Beňadik
• 
  Romantic portal of the St. John's Cathedral in Tampere
• 
  Gothic portal of the Cathedral of Saint Stephen in Metz
• 
  Taşkapı (stone gatehouse) of the Hatuniye Medresesi in Karaman
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  Murad's Gate in the Palace of the Shirvanshahs, Baku
• 
  Rococo portal of the Palace of the Marqués de Dos Aguas in Valencia

Other uses

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

See also

• Portico
• City gate