# Porticus

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__NOTOC__
{{Short description|Architectural element}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2017}}
{{hatnote|This article concerns the ecclesiastical architectural term. For other uses, see [portico](/source/portico).}}
[[File:Plan of St Mary's Church, Reculver.jpg|thumb|300px|alt=refer to caption|In this plan of [St Mary's Church, Reculver](/source/St_Mary's_Church%2C_Reculver), in north-east [Kent](/source/Kent), the porticus of the 7th-century church are represented by the extensions to north and south from the main structure, which is in yellow. Other colours represent later additions.]]
In [church architecture](/source/church_architecture), a '''porticus''' ([Latin](/source/Latin) for "[portico](/source/portico)"){{efn|Most Latin terms ending in {{lang|la|-us}} are [masculine](/source/masculine_(grammar)) and form their [nominative](/source/nominative_case) [plural](/source/plural_(grammar)) with {{lang|la|-i}} but {{lang|la|porticus}} is a [feminine](/source/feminine_(grammar)) [fourth-declension](/source/Latin_declension) noun whose plural is also {{lang|la|porticus}}, sometimes differentiated with a [macron](/source/macron_(diacritic)) as {{lang|la|porticūs}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3Dporticus |editor1-last=Lewis |editor1-first=C.T. |editor2-last=Short |editor2-first=C. |work=A Latin Dictionary |title=porticus |publisher=www.perseus.tufts.edu |date=n.d. |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160131221317/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3Dporticus |archivedate=31 January 2016 |url-status=live |accessdate=6 September 2018 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> The English plural form is ''porticuses'', when the term is not simply translated as ''portico''.}} is usually a small room in a church.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.digital-documents.co.uk/archi/gloschur.htm |title=Glossary of ecclesiastical terms |publisher=Archi UK |date=n.d. |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160629130240/http://www.digital-documents.co.uk/archi/gloschur.htm |archivedate=29 June 2016 |url-status=live |accessdate=28 January 2017|df=dmy}}</ref> Commonly, porticuses<!--use English--> form extensions to the north and south sides of a church, giving the building a [cruciform](/source/cruciform) [plan](/source/Plan_view). They may function as [chapel](/source/chapel)s, rudimentary [transept](/source/transept)s or burial-places. For example, [Anglo-Saxon](/source/Anglo-Saxon) [kings of Kent](/source/Kingdom_of_Kent) were buried in the south porticus at [St Augustine's Abbey](/source/St_Augustine's_Abbey) in [Canterbury](/source/Canterbury), with the exception of [Eadberht II](/source/Eadberht_II), who was buried in a similar location in [St Mary's Church, Reculver](/source/St_Mary's_Church%2C_Reculver).{{sfn|Kelly|2008|pp=78–9}}

This feature of church design originated in the late [Roman](/source/History_of_the_Roman_Empire) period and continued to appear in those built on the [European continent](/source/Continental_Europe) and, in [Anglo-Saxon England](/source/History_of_Anglo-Saxon_England), until the 8th century.{{sfn|Cherry|1981|p=168}}

==Notes==
{{noteslist}}

==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist|30em}}

===Bibliography===
*{{citation|last=Cherry|first=B.|chapter=Ecclesiastical architecture|editor-last=Wilson|editor-first=D.M.|title=The Archaeology of Anglo-Saxon England|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1981|orig-date=1976|pages=151–200|isbn=0-521-28390-6}}
*{{citation|last=Kelly|first=S.|editor-last=Barrow|editor-first=J.|editor2-last=Wareham|editor2-first=A.|chapter=Reculver Minster and its early charters|title=Myth, Rulership, Church and Charters Essays in Honour of Nicholas Brooks|publisher=Ashgate|year=2008|pages=67–82|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W2spwSjY9YcC&pg=PA67|isbn=978-0-7546-5120-8}}

Category:Archaeological terminology
Category:Architectural elements
Category:Rooms
{{Architecturalelement-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Porticus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porticus) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porticus?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.