{{about|the architectural term|interior gallery|Triforium}} [[File:Venezia - Palazzo Ducale, porta della carta.jpg|thumb|upright|A trifora over ''Porta della carta'', Doge's Palace, Venice]] '''Trifora''' is a type of three-light window. The trifora usually appears in towers and belfries—on the top floors, where it is necessary to lighten the structure with wider openings.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hodges |first1=Richard |last2=Bowden |first2=William |last3=Lako |first3=Kosta |last4=Andrews |first4=R. D. |title=Byzantine Butrint: Excavations and Surveys 1994-1999 |date=2004 |publisher=Oxbow Books for the Butrint Foundation |isbn=9781842171585 |page=110 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V3lpAAAAMAAJ&q=trifora+windows |accessdate=23 July 2019 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Oppenheimer |first1=Michael |title=The Monuments of Italy: A Regional Survey of Art, Architecture and Archaeology from Classical to Modern Times |date=2002 |publisher=Tauris |isbn=9781860645709 |page=22 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V51GAQAAIAAJ&q=trifora+windows |accessdate=23 July 2019 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Spinelli of Florence: Fortunes of a Renaissance Merchant Family |publisher=Penn State Press |isbn=9780271044187 |page=196 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xr3cD7jJdLUC&dq=trifora+windows&pg=PA196 |accessdate=23 July 2019 |language=en}}</ref>
==Overview== The trifora has three openings divided by two small columns or pilasters, on which rest three arches, round or acute. Sometimes, the whole trifora is framed by a further large arch. The space among arches is usually decorated by a coat of arms or a circular opening. Less popular than the mullioned window, the trifora was, however, widely used in the Romanesque, Gothic, and Renaissance periods. Later, the window was mostly forgotten, coming back in vogue in the nineteenth century, in the period of eclecticism and the rediscovery of ancient styles (Neo-Gothic, Neo-Renaissance, and so on). Compared to the mullioned window, the trifora was generally used for larger and more ornate openings.
==Gallery== <gallery> File:Rivalta Scrivia Abbazia Santa Maria Trifora.jpg|Abbazia di Santa Maria di Rivalta in Tortona File:Stained glass window Constance Minster.JPG|Konstanz Minster File:Siena Palazzo Pubblico 20030813-349.jpg|Palazzo Pubblico in Siena File:Pisa, cappella di sant'agata (dopo i restauri del 2022), esterno 09 trifora.jpg|Cappella di Sant'Agata in Pisa </gallery>
==See also== *{{Annotated link|Monofora}} *{{Annotated link|Bifora (architecture)}} *{{Annotated link|Quadrifora}} *{{Annotated link|Polifora}} *{{Annotated link|Diocletian window}} *{{Annotated link|Venetian window}}
==References== {{Reflist}} * AA.VV. ''Enciclopedia dell'Architettura'', Garzanti, Milano 1996, {{ISBN|88-11-50465-1}} * Pevsner, Fleming e Honour, ''Dizionario di architettura'', Utet, Torino 1978 {{ISBN|88-06-51961-1}}; ristampato come ''Dizionario dei termini artistici'', Utet Tea, 1994
Category:Architectural elements Category:Windows