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Crypta

κρύπτη). Any long, narrow vault, either dark or dimly lighted. It is used in three specific senses:


1.

A tunnel for draining purposes.


2.

A dark vaulted passage in any building, as under the cavea in the amphitheatre or behind the scena of a theatre.


3.

A covered corridor above ground, dimly lighted in summer for the sake of coolness, and very commonly attached to the sides of an open colonnade (porticus). This was probably the species of crypta known as cryptoporticus. See Porticus.

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