In Ancient Roman architecture a cryptoporticus (from Latin crypta and porticus) is a covered corridor or passageway.[1] The usual English is "cryptoportico". The cryptoportico is a semi-subterranean gallery whose vaulting supports portico structures aboveground and which is lit from openings at the tops of its arches.
On sloping sites the open side of a cryptoporticus is often partially at ground level and supports a structure such as a forum or Roman villa, in which case it served as basis villae. It is often vaulted and lit by openings in the vault. In the letters of Pliny the Younger,[2] the term is used as a synonym of crypt. The shade and semi-excavated site of a cryptoportico provided cool and moderated temperatures useful for storage of perishables, while it offered a level and slightly raised podium for the superstructure.
- ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 566.
- ^ Pliny, Epistles ii.17.16ff; v.6.27-28; vii.21.2;ix.36.3.