Roofed structure, usually open at front and sides, projecting from the face of a building and used to protect an entrance.
If colonnaded, it may be called a portico . A veranda is typically a long porch surrounded by a railing, often extending along more than one side of a building. Simple porches were exceedingly common in the domestic architecture of Britain and the U.S. from the late 18th century. In Gothic cathedrals the porch was often a small gabled structure projecting from the northern or southern walls of the nave . See also loggia , narthex .