The Portico can be seen as a basic element of civil construction throughout history that is not characterized by being unique to a culture, be it Western or Eastern. It was present in the buildings of Ancient Greece or pre-Columbian, in the Arch of Triumph or in the destroyed NYC Wall Trade Center.
The Portuguese writer Ferreira de Castro chose to start in almost all his books with a Portico, kind of a preface or presentation to his adventures. For its shape, the Portico can be understood as a set possibly balanced between two columns, Society and State, and a beam, the Democracy.