Church architectural elements

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System-search.svgSee also: Architectural elements.

Exterior[edit]

  • Apse
    A semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault at the east end
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  • Arcade
    A passage or walkway covered over by a succession of arches or vaults supported by columns

  • Architrave
    A moulded or ornamental band framing a rectangular opening. It is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of the columns

  • Archivolt, ornamental molding or band following the curve on the underside of an arch.
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  • Baptistery
    A separate centrally-planned structure surrounding the baptismal font
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  • Bell tower
    A tower which contains one or more bells, or which is designed to hold bells, even if it has none
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  • Buttress
    An architectural structure built against (a counterfort) or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall
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  • Chapel
    A place of worship sometimes attached to a large church and sometimes a stand-alone structure
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  • Chapter house
    A building or room attached to a cathedral or monastery in which meetings are held
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  • Chevet
    Apses that are built as radiating chapels outside the choir aisle
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  • Church tower
    A tall tower, sometimes topped by a spire
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  • Cloister
    an enclosed space, commonly in the form of a green square with surrounding arcades, that forms the central part of a monastery
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  • Corbel
    A piece of stone jutting out of a wall to carry any superincumbent weight
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  • Crossing tower
    The tower built above the junction of the four arms of a cruciform (cross-shaped) church
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  • Dome
    A structural element of architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a sphere
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  • Facade
    The significant front of the church usually on the west front but can be on the side as well
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  • Flèche
    A spire or a lead-covered timber spire that are placed on the ridges of church or cathedral roofs and are usually relatively small
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  • Flying buttress
    A type of buttress that are used to transmit the horizontal thrust of a vault across an intervening space
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  • Gargoyle
    A carved stone grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building
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  • Onion dome
    A bulbous shaped dome resembling an onion
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  • Portal
    A main entrance, on the church facade, usually highly ornamented.
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  • Tympanum
    A semi-circular or triangular decorative wall surface over an entrance bounded by a lintel and arch
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  • Refectory
    A dining room, especially in monasteries

Interior[edit]

  • Aisle
    A space for walking with rows of seats on either side or with rows of seats on one side and a wall on the other

  • Altar
    A structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices and votive offerings are made for religious purposes
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  • Altarpiece
    An altarpiece is a picture or relief representing a religious subject and suspended in a frame behind the altar
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  • Altar rails
    A set of railings, sometimes ornate and frequently of marble or wood, delimiting the chancel

  • Ambulatory
    The covered passage around a cloister or a walkway around the apse
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  • Archivolt
    An ornamental molding or band following the curve of the underside of an arch
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  • Ante-choir. A space in a church between the outer gate or railing of the rood screen and the door of the screen; sometimes there is only one rail, gate or door.

  • Baldachin
    A canopy of state over an altar or throne
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  • Baptismal font
    An article of church furniture or a fixture used for the baptism of children and adults.
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  • Bay
    A unit defined as the zone between the outside edges of an engaged column, pilaster, post, or vertical wall area
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  • Boss
    A a knob or protrusion of stone or wood. Bosses can often be found in the ceilings of buildings, particularly at the intersection of a vault.
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  • Capital
    The crowning part at the top of a column or a pilaster

  • Cathedra
    The chair or throne of a bishop.
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  • Chantry
    An institutional chapel on private land or within a greater church, where a priest would chant masses
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  • Choir
    The area usually in the western part of the chancel between the nave and the sanctuary (which houses the altar)
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  • Ciborium
    A canopy or covering supported by columns, freestanding in the sanctuary, that covers the altar
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  • Clerestory
    An upper level of a Roman basilica or of the nave of a Romanesque or Gothic church, the walls of which rise above the rooflines of the lower aisles and are pierced with windows.
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  • Column
    An architectural support that may form part of a colonnade
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  • Confession
    A cabinet-like unit in a church used for conducting confession
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  • Consecration crosses
    Crosses on the walls of a catholic church or cathedral showing where the catholic bishop has anointed the church with chrism oil in order to consecrate it "for the Glory of God".
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  • Crossing
    The junction of the four arms of a cruciform (cross-shaped) church
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  • Crypt
    A stone chamber or vault beneath the floor of a church usually used as a chapel or burial vault possibly containing sarcophagi, coffins or relics
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  • Effigy
    A representation of a person, especially in the form of sculpture
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  • Fan vault
    A form of vault used in the Perpendicular Gothic style, in which the ribs are all of the same curve and spaced equidistantly, in a manner resembling a fan.
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  • High altar
    The main altar of a church

  • Hypogeum
    An underground temple or tomb

  • Keystone
    A piece at the crown of a vault or arch which marks its apex, locking the other pieces into position.
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  • Labyrinth
    A single Eulerian path to the center sometimes laid on the floor of a large church
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  • Matroneum
    Originally a gallery on the interior of a building, later in medieval churches they became an architectonic elements, placed over the side aisles.
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  • Nave
    The central approach to the high altar
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  • Narthex
    The entrance or lobby area, located at the end of the nave that is either an indoor area separated from the nave by a screen or rail, or an external structure such as a porch to allow space for those not eligible for admittance into the general congregation.

  • Parapet
    A wall-like barrier at the edge of a roof or structure

  • Pinnacle
    An architectural ornament originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations
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  • Pipe organ
    A major musical instrument in a church usually placed above entrance on the west side
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  • Processional poles
    A long stick, often decorated at the top with statues of saints, used for carrying in religious processions.
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  • Pulpit
    A small elevated platform from which a member of the clergy delivers a sermon
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  • Pulpit altar
    A pulpit centrally located in the same position as the main altar
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  • Rood screen
    An ornate screen, constructed of wood, stone or wrought iron used for dividing the chancel from the nave
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  • Rose window
    A circular window especially used in Gothic churches and divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery
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  • Royal Arms
    A wall relief or painting of the Royal Arms of the United Kingdom, usually found in Anglican churches, representing loyalty to the British crown
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  • Sedilia
    The seats (often) on the south side of the chancel near the altar for the use of the officiating priests
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  • Side altar
    Secondary altars of a church

  • Side-chapel
    A chapel within a cathedral or larger church building

  • Solomonic column
    A helical column, characterized by a spiraling twisting shaft like a corkscrew.
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  • Stained glass window
    A window decorated with coloured glass
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  • Stoup
    A vessel containing holy water generally placed near the entrance of a church
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  • Tabernacle
    A portable dwelling place for the divine presence
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  • Transept
    The area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building
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  • Triforium
    A shallow gallery of arches within the thickness of inner wall, which stands above the nave
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  • Vault
    An arched form used to provide a space with a ceiling or roof
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  • Window
    An opening in a wall that allows the passage of light
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