1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Balustrade

BALUSTRADE, a parapet or low screen consisting of a coping or rail supported on balusters (q.v.). Sometimes it is employed purely as a decorative feature beneath the sill of a window which was not carried down to the ground. Sometimes flowing foliage takes the place of the parapet, and sometimes so-called balustrades are formed of vertical slabs of stone, pierced as in the Ca’ d’oro at Venice and the balconies of the minarets at Cairo.