DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.811#0206
PORTICOES EAST AND WEST OF ENTRANCE PASSAGE 165
Fig. 109 a.
67
Limestone Column-]
Portico.
ase from N. End of
have exactly corresponded with that of the Portico East of the Entrance
Passage.
A corridor of communication was obviously necessary to bring this fine
Columnar Hall into direct connexion with the Central Court and adjoining
Palace regions, and it will
be seen that the laying
out of the terrace formed
by the bastions East of the
Entrance Passage had this
special object in view.
The terrace on the
West side, which at most
supported a loggia or gal-
lery closed at its North
end, was given a width of
2-20 metres, thus allowing-
a space of 1-50 metres
between the columns and
the wall. But the remains
of the bastions forming the
substructure of the Eastern terrace level go back 2-85 metres from the line
of the roadway, which would have left a clear space of 2-20 metres between the
columns and the back wall, affording convenient room for a through passage.
See Section C. C, Fig. 108. Owing to the slope of the entrance ramp the
floor of the Corridor at its North end is 1-5 metres above that of the Columnar
PI all, a matter of seven low steps. As already observed, however, the
additional height of the Hall in comparison with that of the Corridor—
about 5 metres as compared with 4—brought its roof to the same level.
(See Elevation, Fig. 106.)
Of the opposite gallery, of which seven courses of the Northern
supporting bastion were preserved—almost the full height of the terrace—
five metres at that point—-we have much more precise information. On the
outer, Northern edge, of this, only slightly displaced from its original position,
was found the limestone column-base (Fig. 109 a), 59 cm. in diameter and
belonging thus to a column about 3 metres in height—which answers to that
postulated for both this and the opposite colonnade. It had been fixed in
the floor, showing that no parapets existed in these cases. The North end
of the terrace where this base occurred overlooked a void, so that it could
never have been a thoroughfare. On the other hand, its back wall con-
Corridor
linking
Upper
Hall
with
Central
Court.
Portico
over-
looking
W. side
of En-
trance
Passage.
Fig. 109 a.
67
Limestone Column-]
Portico.
ase from N. End of
have exactly corresponded with that of the Portico East of the Entrance
Passage.
A corridor of communication was obviously necessary to bring this fine
Columnar Hall into direct connexion with the Central Court and adjoining
Palace regions, and it will
be seen that the laying
out of the terrace formed
by the bastions East of the
Entrance Passage had this
special object in view.
The terrace on the
West side, which at most
supported a loggia or gal-
lery closed at its North
end, was given a width of
2-20 metres, thus allowing-
a space of 1-50 metres
between the columns and
the wall. But the remains
of the bastions forming the
substructure of the Eastern terrace level go back 2-85 metres from the line
of the roadway, which would have left a clear space of 2-20 metres between the
columns and the back wall, affording convenient room for a through passage.
See Section C. C, Fig. 108. Owing to the slope of the entrance ramp the
floor of the Corridor at its North end is 1-5 metres above that of the Columnar
PI all, a matter of seven low steps. As already observed, however, the
additional height of the Hall in comparison with that of the Corridor—
about 5 metres as compared with 4—brought its roof to the same level.
(See Elevation, Fig. 106.)
Of the opposite gallery, of which seven courses of the Northern
supporting bastion were preserved—almost the full height of the terrace—
five metres at that point—-we have much more precise information. On the
outer, Northern edge, of this, only slightly displaced from its original position,
was found the limestone column-base (Fig. 109 a), 59 cm. in diameter and
belonging thus to a column about 3 metres in height—which answers to that
postulated for both this and the opposite colonnade. It had been fixed in
the floor, showing that no parapets existed in these cases. The North end
of the terrace where this base occurred overlooked a void, so that it could
never have been a thoroughfare. On the other hand, its back wall con-
Corridor
linking
Upper
Hall
with
Central
Court.
Portico
over-
looking
W. side
of En-
trance
Passage.