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A tetrapylon (plural tetrapyla; ; , also used in English) is a rectangular form of monument with arched passages in two directions, at right angles, generally built on a crossroads. They appear in ancient Roman architecture, usually as a form of the Roman triumphal arch at significant crossroads or geographical "focal points".
A tetrapylon was effectively a 'doubling' of the original triumphal arch form; with a total of four major arched openings, one on each side of the structure (one pair of openings opposite each other along one axis, and a second pair of openings of equal or lesser prominence perpendicular to the first pair; hence a structure with two passageways, in the form of a cross). Roman examples are usually roughly square in floor plan, with the crossing archways of the same size; in some later examples, the plan is oblong, with the longer sides having a larger archway as for example at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
The three-arched form is called an octopylon as it has eight piers. As it still has four faces it can still be called a quadrifrons. The tetrakionion is another variant, with four groups of columns, usually four in each, that were never connected by stone.MacDonald, 87
Called chahartaq, similar structures were built in Sasanian architecture and perhaps earlier as well as later periods in the architecture of Iran, some apparently as parts of the of Zoroastrianism. These normally had small domes above, which Roman examples did not. Since many Roman tetrapylons are in Eastern parts of the empire once ruled by the Persians, influence has been proposed, although Roman examples follow the style of Greco-Roman classical architecture.Ball, 281-283
They were built as grandiose landmarks, rarely functioning as gateways, but as decorative and aesthetically pleasing ornamental architecture.
The normal Roman type is square, with the four faces usually very similar; these are found "from Spain to Syria", with a probable example in England.MacDonald, 87 Post-classical examples, like the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel in Paris and the Gateway of India in Mumbai, tend to be oblong, with three arches on the long face, the central of which is the main one, much larger than the side arches, or the single arches passing in the other direction. This was probably also the form of the Arch of Galerius, which crossed a main city road, with the other axis crossing, or marking, the entrance road for the imperial palace. This may have been extended from a tetrapylon to an octopylon.
Although at an important crossroad in the city, the Arch of Septimius Severus at Leptis Magna has three steps up from the road level, suggesting that it was not passed through by wheeled traffic.
The better known Parisian Arc de Triomphe has only one arch in each face, but is also oblong, with the arch on the long face much larger. None of these modern arches straddle a significant road.
Even after recent attempts at destruction when the city was occupied by the Islamic State, the example at Palmyra, Syria is the best preserved. The South Tetrapylon at Jerash seems to have had this form, as well as structures in Anjar, Lebanon, Ephesus, and other cities, all in the Eastern Roman Empire, apart from a tomb in Pompeii that is much smaller than the examples on streets. Some, perhaps all, seem to have had statues either on the tops of the columns, or perhaps in between them at the bottom, on the rather high that large examples have.MacDonald, 87-90
The relatively small example at Aphrodisias, Turkey is rather different, with the two groups of columns on each side of the roadway joined by open over arches, while none of the structure crosses the road itself.MacDonald, 90 This thus represents a hybrid of the tetrapylon and tetrakionion.
File:Arch of Galerius (Thessaloniki) 20180222.jpg|Remains of the Arch of Galerius, Thessaloniki, 299-303
File:RomaViaFlaminiaArcoMalborghetto4.jpg|Arch of Malborghetto, near Rome on the Via Flaminia, 4th century
File:Arco romano de Caparra.jpg|Cáparra, Spain
File:Arco de Cáparra (7563967296).jpg|Inside Cáparra, looking up
File:Aphrodisias - Tetrapylon 04.jpg| Tetrakionion at Aphrodisias, Turkey
File:Tetrakionion in Ephesus.png|Speculative reconstruction of the tetrakionion in Ephesus
File:Jerash South Tetrapylon 0896.jpg|Two plinths of the South Tetrapylon at Jerash, presumed to be a tetrakionion, with a view down the colonnaded street
File:Paris - Jardin des Tuileries - Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel - PA00085992 - 003.jpg|Long face of the octopylon Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, Paris
File:Right side views of the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, September 2017.jpg|Side view of the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel
File:Arc de Triomphe, Paris 3 October 2010.jpg|The Arc de Triomphe seen from the Eiffel Tower
File:India Gate For Soldiers.JPG|India Gate, a war memorial in New Delhi by Edwin Lutyens, 1930s
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