Cryptoporticus

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Reims crypto portico
Cryptoporticus in the substructures of the Temple of Jupiter in Terracina

A cryptoporticus (from the Greek kryptós = "hidden" and Latin porticus = "passage") is a vaulted corridor that is completely or partially underground. In a different usage of the word, Pliny the Younger (1st century AD) also referred to an above-ground covered walkway within villa complexes that was closed off from its surroundings as cryptoporticus .

In Roman architecture , cryptoportics were used to compensate for height differences in the planning and creation of buildings and to provide them with a solid foundation.

A first appearance of these vaults is in the 2nd century BC. BC in central Italy and can be traced back to the vault construction technique, which was greatly improved at that time . Initially limited to terrace buildings , the cryptoporticus also appeared as an above-ground developer from the turn of the times, often in connection with single or multi-wing porticoed halls. The building type flourished in the 1st century AD and was widespread in the western provinces of the Roman Empire, for example in forums .

Apart from their purely constructive use, cryptoportics were used for a wide variety of purposes. Due to the upscale furnishing of most of the corridors with plastering, wall painting, etc., it can be assumed that these were used as shady walkways for promenading in the heat of the day. For the use as a storage room ( horreum ), which is often postulated in older literature, no clear archaeological evidence has been found so far.

In modern parlance, the term is generally used for elongated arches. A special feature of this type of building is the targeted upgrading of the interior by means of windows, wall paintings, mosaics, etc. This distinguishes the cryptoporticus from pure substructure rooms and has its own status.

Examples

The house of Diomedes , a suburban villa near Pompeii , has a garden surrounded by cryptoportics
Cryptoporticus of Nero in the Domus Tiberiana in Rome

Cryptoportics can be found at the following locations, among others:

Crypto portico of the Roman forum in Arles

swell

  1. ↑ Plin. epist. 2, 17, 16-20; 5, 6, 27-32; 7, 21, 9; 9, 36.3)

literature

  • Reinhard Förtsch : Archaeological commentary on the villa letters of the younger Pliny . von Zabern, Mainz 1993, ISBN 3-8053-1317-9 ( contributions to the development of Hellenistic and Imperial Sculpture and Architecture 13).
  • Edgar Markus Luschin: Cryptoporticus. On the history of the development of a multifunctional building . Austrian Archaeological Institute, Vienna 2002, ISBN 3-900305-40-4 ( supplementary books to the annual books of the Austrian Archaeological Institute in Vienna 5), (also: Vienna, Univ., Dipl.-Arb., 1998).
  • Edgar Markus Luschin: Cryptoporticus. On the history of the development of a multifunctional structure - Supplementum I , Vienna 2011, ISBN 978-3-640-97981-3
  • Les Cryptoportiques in L'Architecture Romaine. Colloque international 19. – 23. avril 1972. École Française de Rome, Rome 1973, ISBN 2-222-01609-6 ( Collection de l'École Française de Rome 14).

Web links

Commons : Cryptoporticus  - collection of images, videos and audio files