Stoa Poecile (Poikile)

In ancient Greek architecture the stoa is an extended, roofed colonnade on a street or square. Early examples consisted of a simple open-fronted shed or
porch with a roof sloping from the back wall to the row of columns along the front. Later stoas were often immense, running to two stories, each with a colonnade of a different order and having a ridged roof supported on internal colonnades; rows of shops or offices lined the back wall, which was sometimes decorated with paintings. Such stoae surrounded the agora or marketplace of every large city and were used for public meetings. The Stoa Poecile (see #20 on plan below) on the north side of the agora of Athens was the favorite meeting place of the philosopher Zeno of Citium (c.334–c.262 BC) (more here); hence his followers are called Stoics and his system Stoicism. (From The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition.)

Plan of Agora, Athens, 5th century BC, showing Stoa Poecile, or Poikile (#20). (Click here for larger)

See here for more on this plan, and links to information about the buildings in the following list.

1 Peristylar Court
2 Mint
3 Enneacrounos
4 South stoa
5 Heliaea
6 Strategeion
7 Colonos Agoraios
8 Tholos
9 Agora stone
10 Monument of the Eponymous Heroes
11 Metroon (Old Bouleuterion)
12 New Bouleuterion
13 Temple of Hephaestus (Hephaestion)
14 Temple of Apollo Patroos
15 Stoa of Zeus
16 Altar of the Twelve Gods
17 Stoa Basileios (Royal stoa)
18 Temple of Aphrodite Urania
19 Stoa of Hermes
20 Stoa poikile

More Stoae

Stoa of Attalus, Athens. (Built around 150 BC)

Photo by Adam Carr (larger) (even larger)

Model of Agora at Athens, 2nd century [BC?] (larger)