Balcony
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Balcony (from Italian balcone, scaffold; cf. High German balcho, beam, balk; probably cognate with Persian term بالكانه bālkāneh or its older variant پالكانه pālkāneh [1]), a kind of platform projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or console brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade. The traditional Maltese balcony is a wooden closed balcony projecting from a wall.
Alternatively, Juliette balconies do not protrude out of the building. They are usually part of an upper floor, with a balustrade only at the front, and walls on the sides.
Sometimes balconies are adapted for ceremonial purposes, e.g. that of St. Peter's Basilica at Rome, when the newly elected pope gives his blessing urbi et orbi after the conclave. Inside churches, balconies are sometimes provided for the singers, and in banqueting halls and the like for the musicians.
A unit with a regular balcony will have doors that open up onto a small patio with railings. To the contrary, a French balcony is actually a false balcony, with doors that open to a railing with a view of the courtyard or the surrounding scenery below.
In theatres, the balcony was formerly a stage-box, but the name is now usually confined to the part of the auditorium above the dress circle and below the gallery.
[edit] Famous uses of balconies
Balconies have been used extensively in many television, movie, and stage performances. One of the most famous of all is, by far, the famous "balcony scene" in William Shakespeare's famous tragedy, Romeo and Juliet.
 Edouard Manet: Le balcon |
 Ford Madox Brown, the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet |
 Catalan ironwork balcony |
 Colourful balcony in Rome |
_Luca_Galuzzi_2006.jpg/120px-Lisbon_(Lisboa)_Luca_Galuzzi_2006.jpg)
[edit] See also
[edit] Footnotes
 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2007) |
