In the Genesis story of Noah’s Ark, a door was placed in the vessel’s side.
Genesis 6:16 says that God instructed Noah to set the ark’s entrance in its side. The verse mentions the door alongside the vessel’s three levels and its opening or roof, making the entrance part of the ark’s basic architectural description.
This detail is often changed or elaborated in paintings, films, and museum models. A large external ramp, multiple doors, or a hinged loading arrangement may be shown for visual or practical reasons, but those additions are not specified in the Genesis text.
The door also has theological importance in later interpretation. In Genesis, the narrative says that Noah and the animals entered the ark, and that the Lord shut Noah in after they entered. The explicit architectural answer remains simply “a door,” not a gate, hatch, or ramp.