Perron
From LoveToKnow 1911
PERRON (a French word meaning properly a "large stone," Ital. petrone, from Lat. petra, Fr. pierre, stone), in architecture, a term applied to a raised platform reached by steps in front of the entrance to a building. The grand flight of external steps entering the mansions of the medieval nobility or high officials was considered in itself a mark of jurisdiction, as it is said that sentence was there pronounced against criminals, who were afterwards executed at the foot of the steps--as at the Giant's Stairs of the Doge's palace at Venice.
