stoa

Dictionary: sto·a (stō'ə) pronunciation

n., pl., sto·as, or sto·ae (stō'ē').
An ancient Greek covered walk or colonnade, usually having columns on one side and a wall on the other.

[Greek, porch.]

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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: stoa

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In Greek architecture, a freestanding colonnade or covered walkway; also, a long open building with its roof supported by one or more rows of columns parallel to its rear wall. Stoas lined marketplaces and sanctuaries and formed places of business and public promenades. Rooms might back onto the colonnade, and a second story was sometimes added. The Stoa of Attalus in Athens (2nd century BC), a large, elaborate, two-story building with a row of shops at the rear, was a prime example.

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Architecture: stoa

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A portico, usually detached, often of considerable extent, providing a sheltered promenade or meeting place.

Classical Literature Companion: stoa

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stoa, Greek word for a roofed colonnade or portico (English ‘porch’) with a wall on one side, erected as a separate building near temples or gymnasia or in market-places as a sheltered place in which to walk and talk or hold meetings. The wall was often decorated with paintings or inscriptions. Thus the Stoa Poikilē (‘painted colonnade’) in the agora at Athens, built c.460 BC, was adorned with frescos by famous artists, including one by Polygnotus representing the destruction of Troy. It was from this stoa, frequented by the philosopher Zeno and his disciples, that the Stoic school of philosophy derived its name.

Philosophy Dictionary: stoa

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(Greek, porch) Especially the stoa poikile or painted porch in which the Stoics (see stoicism) originally taught.

Archaeology Dictionary: stoa

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[MC]

A colonnaded market-hall in an ancient Greek city. Consisting of a long straight colonnade with a vertical wall and sometimes rooms at the back and a roof over. Examples appear from about 650 bc onwards.

Columbia Encyclopedia: stoa

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stoa (stō'ə), in ancient Greek architecture, an extended, roofed colonnade on a street or square. Early examples consisted of a simple open-fronted shed or porch with a roof sloping from the back wall to the row of columns along the front. Later stoas were often immense, running to two stories, each with a colonnade of a different order and having a ridged roof supported on internal colonnades; rows of shops or offices lined the back wall, which was sometimes decorated with paintings. Such stoas surrounded the agora or marketplace of every large city and were used for public meetings. The Stoa Poecile on the north side of the agora of Athens was the favorite meeting place of the philosopher Zeno of Citium; hence his followers are called Stoics and his system Stoicism.

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	the Porch
	pteroma
	portico

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		Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more
		Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more
		Architecture. McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction. Copyright © 2003 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more
		Classical Literature Companion. The Concise Oxford Companion to Classical Literature. Copyright © 1993, 2003 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. Read more
		Philosophy Dictionary. The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy. Copyright © 1994, 1996, 2005 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. Read more
		Archaeology Dictionary. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology. Copyright © 2002, 2003 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. Read more
		Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/. Read more