According to Genesis, through which part of the ark did Noah and the animals enter?

According to Genesis, Noah and the animals entered through a door in the ark’s side.

Genesis 6:16 gives the construction instruction to make the ark’s door in its side. Later, Genesis 7:16 says that the creatures entered with Noah, and that the Lord shut him in. The side door is therefore a specific architectural feature, not merely an artistic convention.

The same verse that mentions the door also describes a roof or covering and three levels. Because the text does not provide a complete blueprint, illustrations often vary in the door’s height, shape, and fittings. A roof opening is also mentioned elsewhere in the narrative, but it is not identified as the entrance.

This detail is sometimes confused with the window Noah later opens after the waters begin to recede. Genesis distinguishes the door used for entry from that window. The canonical description places the entrance in the side of the vessel.