Peristyle.Greek.

Peristyle
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Reconstruction of a Roman peristylum (peristyle) and peristylium (courtyard) at Pompeii.
In Hellenistic Greek[1] and Roman architecture[2] a peristyle is a columned porch or open colonnade in a building that surrounds a court that may contain an internal garden. "Tetrastoon" (Greek: "four arcades") is another name for this feature. In the Christian ecclesiastical architecture that developed from Roman precedents, a basilica, such as Old St Peter's in Rome, would stand behind a peristyle forecourt that sheltered it from the street. In time the cloister developed from the peristyle.
Contents[hide]
1 In Roman architecture
2 Other uses
3 See also
4 Notes
5 External links
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[edit] In Roman architecture
In rural settings a wealthy Roman could surround a villa with terraced gardens; within the city Romans created their gardens inside the domus. The peristylium was an open courtyard within the house; the columns or square pillars surrounding the garden supported a shady roofed portico whose inner walls were often embellished with elaborate wall paintings of landscapes and trompe-l'oeil architecture. Sometimes the lararium, a shrine for the Lares, the gods of the household, was located in this portico, or it might be found in the atrium. The courtyard might contain flowers and shrubs, fountains, benches, sculptures and even fish ponds.[3] Romans devoted as large a space to the peristyle as site constraints permitted; even in the grandest development of the urban peristyle house, as it evolved in Roman North Africa, often one range of the portico was eliminated, for a larger open space.[4]

"In the Peristyle" John William Waterhouse (1849-1917). Rochdale Art Gallery, Rochdale, England.
The end of the Roman domus is one mark of the extinction of the Late Classical culture: "the disappearance of the Roman peristyle house marks the end of the ancient world and its way of life," remarked Simon P. Ellis.[5] "No new new peristyle houses were built after A.D. 550." Noting that as houses and villas were increasingly abandoned in the fifth century, a few palatial structures were expanded and enriched, as power and classical culture became concentrated in a narrowing class, and public life withdrew to the basilica, or audience chamber, of the magnate. In the Eastern Roman empire, Late Antiquity lingered longer: Ellis identified the latest known peristyle house built from scratch as the "House of the Falconer" at Argos, dating from the style of its floor mosaics about 530-550.[6] Existing houses were subdivided in many cases, to accommodate a larger and less elite population in a warren of small spaces, and columned porticoes were enclosed in small cubicles, as at the House of Hesychius at Cyrene.[7]

For chiedren & teens. Para crianças e adolescentes.

D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Mythsby Ingri Daulaire

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ISBN13: 9780440406945 ISBN10: 0440406943 All Product Details
Synopses & Reviews
Publisher Comments:
Oversized and lavishly illustrated, this definitive volume of Greek mythology introduces readers to all the major and lesser gods and goddesses as well as the mortal descendants of Zeus. The thrilling tales, along with the vivid artwork, bring the gods and such heroes as Hercules, Theseus, and Jason to life. A family tree, a map of the constellations, and a chart showing both the Greek and Roman names of the major gods are also included.
Review:
"For any child fortunate enough to have this generous book...the kings and heroes of ancient legend will remain forever matter-of-fact; the pictures interpret the text literally and are full of detail and witty observation." Horn Book
Review:
"The drawings...are excellent and excitingly evocative." The New York Times
Synopsis:
" For any child fortunate enough to have this generous book...the kings and heroes of ancient legend will remain forever matter-of-fact; the pictures interpret the text literally and are full of detail and witty observation." --Horn Book,
" The drawings...are excellent and excitingly evocative." --The New York Times,
From the Hardcover edition.