A warehouse is a large building designed for storing goods, typically equipped with loading docks, cranes, and forklifts to move items on standard pallets, serving manufacturers, importers, and wholesalers. In places like India and Hong Kong, they are called godowns, but the concept is ancient—the Romans built massive horrea, such as the Horrea Galbae near Ostia, which boasted 140 ground-floor rooms and covered over 225,000 square feet, larger than most modern U.S. facilities. During the Middle Ages, portside warehouses like Bryggen in Bergen, Norway (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) became vital, though the current structures were rebuilt after fires in 1702 and 1955. The Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries transformed warehousing, driving specialization and the construction of larger, more efficient facilities near canals, railways, and ports to support mass production. Today, warehouses remain critical hubs in global trade, evolving from simple storage pits to highly organized logistics centers.