corridor connecting an annex to a pond-side building (traditional palatial architecture)
Technical term used in descriptions of 寝殿造り (shinden-zukuri) and other Heian-period palatial architecture. Refers to a covered passageway linking a secondary building to a structure facing the garden pond.
In shinden-zukuri architecture, the chūmonrō connected a side building (tai-no-ya) to the structure facing the pond.
寝殿造り is the overall architectural style of Heian-period aristocratic residences; 中門廊 is one component of that layout.
Compound of 中門 (chūmon, 'middle gate') and 廊 (rō, 'corridor'). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the term is firmly associated with Heian-period palatial architecture.