Portugal

Porch
Pórtico 
Atrium

Corridor 
Courtyard
Portugal 
Portuguese

𝐇𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐬 𝟏𝟑:𝟐
“𝐁𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬: 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬.”

 

 

 

 

 

a beautiful rambling adobe-walled house

 

 

Pregunta: -So, in the architecture of a well-to-do person's house what element or section could hint to that? 

𝐂𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐭:-That’s a brilliant extension, Jorge 🌿 — if Hebrews 13:2 is not only about social behavior but about attitude and openness, then in the architecture of a well‑to‑do person’s house, the hint would be in the threshold spaces — the places designed for receiving and welcoming.

🏛️ 𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐒𝐲𝐦𝐛𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 & 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐨 / 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭 𝐏𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐡
A transitional space between public street and private home.
Symbolizes readiness to receive whoever comes, without shutting the door too quickly.

𝐀𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐮𝐦 𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐲𝐚𝐫𝐝
In Roman and Mediterranean houses, the atrium was the heart of hospitality.
It allowed strangers to enter into a shared space without immediately crossing into the intimate quarters.

𝐆𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐨𝐨𝐦 / 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐚 𝐝𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐞́𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐬
A dedicated space for visitors, showing that the household expects and honors strangers.
In biblical times, this was often the “upper room” or spare chamber.

𝐋𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐚𝐥𝐥 / 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐥
Hospitality often culminates in shared meals. A spacious dining area signals openness to fellowship.

𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐆𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐆𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐡
A welcoming entrance, not fortified or hidden, reflects trust and flexibility.
Symbolically, it says: “This household is not a fortress, but a place of welcome.” 

🧭 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐔𝐬

Hospitality as humility: By welcoming strangers, we admit we don’t have the whole truth. Someone outside our circle may carry a message we need.
Flexibility in judgment: If we only cling rigidly to what we know, we risk becoming fanatics. The verse urges openness — to ideas, to people, to God’s surprises.
Guard against tyranny: Tyranny begins when we stop listening, when we impose our faith as absolute without compassion. Hospitality breaks that cycle by teaching us to receive, not dominate.
Angels unawares: The stranger may be God’s messenger. If we dismiss them, we dismiss God. That awareness keeps us humble and prevents us from weaponizing faith.  

 

 

 "the earth belongs to the living"~~~Jefferson 

“Don Ramón, his granddaughter Trinidad and her mother Engracia, widow of Agustín de Saldaña slain by the Apache, lived in a beautiful rambling adobe-walled house facing the Military Plaza that stretched westward from the still-unfinished church of San Fernando. Passers-by were charmed by the Saldaña home: ‘Its walls are always so neatly whitewashed, and the seven wooden beams which jut out from the front wall are always hung with pots of flowers or with golden gourds or strings of corn and chilies drying in the sun. Don Ramón’s house looks as if happy people live inside.’
  Behind this inviting wall hid a nest of eleven interconnected small rooms forming a large horseshoe, the center of which was a lovely patio opening onto an even more beautiful garden where stone benches faced a fountain that gushed cool water whenever Indian servants worked the foot pumps. No one who stepped inside this house or into the garden for even two minutes could deceive himself into thinking that it was a French house or English, and certainly it wasn’t German. This was an evocation of Spain set down in the wilderness of New Spain, and as such it epitomized the ancient Spanish preoccupation with protecting families; stout walls safeguarded them from outside terrors, and a tiny chapel enabled them to hold private religious services.And just as the house protected the family, so the family jealously guarded its prerogatives, prepared to do almost anything, including murder, to defend them. The Saldaña family was fighting to avoid submersion in a sea of mestizo and Indian faces, determined to resist intruders coming down El Camino Real from the new Spanish possession of Louisiana or from the uncivilized Yankee lands farther east and north.”~~~James A. Michener: TEXAS Ch.3 El Camino Real