Church Flashcards
A building for public christian worship
Church
The religion founded on the teachings of Jesus Christ, including the Catholic, Protestant, and Eastern Orthodox churches
Christianity
The forecourt of an early Christian church, flanked or surrounded by porticoes
Atrium
The covered walk of an atrium or cloister
Ambulatory
A basin for a ritual cleansing with water in the atrium of an early Christian basilica
Cantharus
An early Christian church, characterized by a long, rectangular plan, a high colonnaded nave lot by a clerestory and covered by a timber gable roof, two or four lower side aisles, a semicircular apse at the end, a narthex, and often other features
Basilica
A building for public Christian worship
Church
A semicircular or polygonal projection of a building, usually vaulted and used especially at the sanctuary or east end of a church
Apse, Apsis
The bishop’s throne, occupying a recess or apse on an early Christian church
Tribune
A transverse open space separating the nave and the apse of an early Christian church, developing into the transept of later cruciform churches
Bema
A sacred or holy place, as that part of a church in which the principal altar is placed
Sanctuary
The table in a Christian church upon which the Eucharist, the sacrament celebrating Christ’s last supper, is celebrated
Altar, Communion Table
An ornamental canopy of stone or marble permanently placed over the altar in a church
Baldachino, Baldachin, Baldaquin, Ciborium
The principal or central part of a church, extending from the narthex to the choir or chancel and usually flanked by aisles
Nave
Any of the longitudinal divisions of a church, separated from the nave by a row of columns or piers
Aisle
Either of two raised stands from which the gospels or epistles were read or chanted in an early Christian church
Ambo, Ambon
A part of a f a church or a separate building in which baptism is administered
Baptistery, Baptistry
A sacrament of initiation into Christianity, symbolic of spiritual regeneration, marked by a ceremonial immersion or application of water
Baptism
A basin usually of stone, holding the water used in baptism
Font
A portico or vestibule before the nave of an early Christian or Byzantine church, occupied by those not yet christened
Narthex
An inner narthex when two are present
Esonarthex
A covered walk or outer narthex situated before an inner narthex
Exonarthex
A representation of a sacred Christian personage, such as Christ or a saint or angel, typically painted on a wood surface and itself venerated as being sacred especially in the tradition of the eastern church
Icon
A screen or partition on which icons are placed, separating the bema from the nave of an eastern church
Iconostasis, Iconostas
A large apsidal extension of the interior volume of a church
Exedra, Exhedra
A low screen in an early Christian basilica, separating the clergy and sometimes the choir from the congregation
Cancelli
A stone coffin especially one bearing sculpture or inscriptions and displayed as a monument
Sarcophagus
A sacristy in an early Christian or eastern church, usually on the south side of the bema
Diaconicon
A room in a church where the sacred vessels and vestments are kept
Sacristy, Vestry
A chapel in an eastern church where the Eucharistic elements are prepared, usually on the north side of the bema
Prothesis
The monumental western front of a Romanesque church, treated as a tower or towers containing a low entrance hall below and a chapel open to the nave above
West work
A rose window having distinctly radiating millions or bars
Wheel Window, Catherine Wheel, Marigold Window
The space between an arch and the horizontal head of a door or window below, often decorated with sculpture
Tympanum
A column supporting the tympanum of a doorway at its center
Trumeau
A canopied recess for a religious image or icon
Tabernacle
The major transverse part of a cruciform church, crossing the main axis at a right angle between the nave and choir
Transept
The intersection of the nave and transept in a cruciform church
Crossing
A tall, acutely tapering pyramidal structure surmounting a steeple or tower
Spire
A bell tower, usually one near but not attached to the body of a church
Campanile
A bulbous, dome like roof terminating in a sharp point, used especially in Russian Orthodox Church architecture to cover a cupola or tower
Onion Dome
A tall ornamental structure, usually ending in a spire and surmounting the tower of a church or other public building
Steeple
A roofed promenade especially one extending inside or outside along the exterior wall of a building
Gallery
A gallery or upper level on a church or hall
Loft
An indigenous Scandinavian church of the 12th and 13th centuries, having a timber frame, plank walls, a tiered, steeply pitched roof, and few windows
Stave Church
The dwelling of a hermit; more generally, a secluded place of residence or habitation for a religious person or group
Hermitage
An arcade especially a blind one, composed of arches resting on alternated supports and overlapping in series where the cross
Interlacing Arcade, Intersecting Arcade
A series of arches superimposed on a wall for decoration
Blind Arcade, Arcature
A series of arches supported on piers or columns
Arcade
Curved or arched like a bow; a term used in describing the arched or vaulted structure of a Romanesque church or gothic cathedral, as distinguished from the trabeated architecture of an Egyptian hypostyle hall or Greek Doric temple
Arcuate, Arcuated
A pier or pilaster projecting from a wall as a support for an arch or lintel especially at the termination of an arcade or colonnade
Respond
A thickened abacus or supplementary capital set above a column capital to receive the thrust of an arch
Dosseret, Impost Block
A slender spire rising from the ridge of a roof especially one above the crossing of a gothic church
Flèche
A relatively small, usually foliated ornament terminating the peak of a spire or pinnacle
Finial
A projecting ornament, usually in the form of curved foliage, used especially in gothic architecture to decorate the outer angles of pinnacles, spires, and gables
Crocket
Crocket
Gargoyle
The space about the altar of a church for the clergy and choir, often elevated above the nave and separated from it by a railing or screen
Chancel
A chapel endowed for the saying of masses and prayers for the souls of the founders or of persons named by them
Chantry
A mazelike pattern inlaid in the pavement of a medieval church
Labyrinth
The principal church of a diocese, containing the bishop’s throne
Cathedral
A church or other edifice erected over the tomb of a martyr
Martyrium
A separately dedicated part of a church for private prayer, meditation, or small religious services
Chapel
A circular window, usually of stained glass and decorated with tracery symmetrical above the center
Rose Window
Glass colored or stained by having pigments backed onto its surface or by having various metallic oxides fused into it while in a molten state
Stained Glass
An arcaded story in a church, between the nave arches and clerestory and corresponding to the space between the vaulting and the roof of an ailse
Triforium
An underground chamber or vault used as a burial place, especially beneath the main floor of a church
Crypt
A crucifix symbolizing the cross on which christ was crucified especially a large one set above the entrance to the choir or chancel of a medieval church
Rood
A screen often elaborately adorned and properly surmounted by a rood, separating the chancel or choir from the nave of a medieval church
Rood Screen
A small porch used as a chapel for penitents at the west end of some medieval english churches
Galilee, Galilee Porch
A courtyard or quadrangle enclosed by a cloister
Garth, Cloister Garth
A walk or passage, as along a cloister or behind the parapets of a castle
Alure, Allure
A typical Byzantine church plan having nine bays. The center bay is a large square surmounted by a dome; the smaller square corner bays are domed or vaulted; and the rectangular side bays are barrel vaulted
Cross-in-Square
A separately dedicated part of a church for
private prayer, meditation, or small religious services.
Chapel
The rounded east end of a Gothic cathedral,
including the apse and ambulatory
Chevet
The rounded east end of a Gothic cathedral, including the apse and ambulatory
Ambulatory
The part of a church occupied by the singers of a choir, usually a part of the chancel
Choir
A separate division behind the choir or high altar of a large church
Retrochoir
A chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary, usually located behind the high altar of a cathedral at the extremity of the apse
Lady chapel
The main altar of a church
High Altar
The part of a church reserved for the officiating clergy
Presbytery
An enclosed place especially the land surrounding or beside a cathedral
Close
A covered passage, especially one between the transept and chapter house of a cathedral
Slype, Slip
The place where the chapter of a cathedral or monastery meets, usually a building attached to or a hall forming part of the cathedral or monastery
Chapter House
An assembly of the monks in a monastery, or the members of a religious house or order
Chapter
A monastery under the supervision of an abbot, or a convent under the supervision of an abbess, belonging to the highest rank of such institutions
Abbey
An atrium or cloister beside a church
Paradise
A covered walk having an arcade or colonnade on one side opening onto a courtyard
Cloister
