balustrade

(noun)

A row of balusters topped by a rail, serving as an open parapet, as along the edge of a balcony, terrace, bridge, staircase, or the eaves of a building.

Related Terms

Examples of balustrade in the following topics:

  • The Temple of Athena Nike

    • A parapet was added on the balustrade to protect visitors from falling down the steep hillside.

  • Architecture in the Vijayanagar Empire

    • Palaces usually spanned multiple levels and had tall flights of stairs flanked on either side by balustrades carved with yali and elephants.

  • Architecture of the Maya

    • At the spring and fall equinoxes, the setting sun casts an undulating, serpent-like shadow on the stairways forming bodies for the serpent heads carved at the base of the balustrades.

  • Teotihuacan

    • Archaeological excavation of this temple's earlier-phase tableros and a stairway balustrade have revealed painted heads of the Feathered Serpent, the goggle-eyed Rain or Storm God, and reliefs of aquatic shells and snails.

  • Architecture of the Han Dynasty

    • They often had a walled courtyard at the bottom, a balcony with balustrades and windows for every floor, and roof tiles capping and concealing the ceiling rafters.

  • Norman Architecture

    • Around its top run balustrades formed of Gothic letters, which read as part of the Magnificat.

  • Architecture of the Aztecs

    • Each stairway was defined by balustrades flanking the stairs terminating in menacing serpent heads at the base; these stairways were used only by the priests and sacrificial victims.

  • The Acropolis

    • A parapet was added on the balustrade to protect visitors from falling down the steep hillside.