Gateway

(gat'wa.) (Arch.) The pa age or opening in which a gate or large door is hung. Π This maybe either an open way with side pillars, or a covered way vaulted or roofed over. The G. being a most important point in all fortified places, is usu-Fig. 347.-ASSYRIAN GATEWAY. ally protect- (Nineveh marbles.) ed by various devices. It is flanked by towers with loopholes, from which a ailants may be attacked, and is frequently overhung by a machicolated battlement, from which mi iles of every description were poured upon the besicgers. City gates, and gates of large castles, have in all ages been the subjects of great care in construction; and when from some cause, such as the ce ation of constant fighting, or a change in the mode of warfare, gateways have lost their importance in a military point of view, they have maintained their position as important architectural works, and where no longer useful, have become ornamental. [s. 397]