Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture Flashcards
A decorative architectural frame; usually found around a niche; door; or window.
Aedicule
A passageway around the apse or altar of a church.
Ambulatory
a vault rising from two walls that are circular in plan (as above the walls of an ambulatory) ??
Annular Vault
A recess; usually semicircular; in the wall of a building; commonly found at the east end of a church.
Apse
An unroofed interior courtyard or room in a Roman house; sometimes having a pool or garden; sometimes surrounded by columns
Atrium
A canopy placed over an honorific or sacred space such as a throne or church altar
Baldachin
In Christian architecture; a church somewhat resembling the Roman basilica; usually entered from one end and with an apse at the other.
Basilica
The fenestrated part of a building that rises above the roofs of the other parts. In Roman basilicas and medieval churches; the windows that form the nave’s uppermost level below the timber ceiling or the vaults.
Clerestory
the intersection of nave and transept in a cruciform church
crossing
a subterranean chamber or vault; especially one beneath the main floor of a church; used as a burial place; a location for secret meetings; etc.
Crypt
A second story over the side aisles of a church below the clerestory
Gallery
a floor plan with four arms of equal length and at right angles.
Greek Cross
the design of a Christian basilca with a long arms and 3 shorter arms
Latin Cross
A building containing crypts or vaults for entombment; an above ground structure for burial.
Mausoleum
A vestibule leading to the nave of a church
Narthex
The principal longitudinal area of a church; extending from the main entrance or narthex to the chancel; usually flanked by aisles of less height and breadth: generally used only by the congregation.
nave
A square pillar
pier
A construction shaped like a triangle that transitions the space between flat walls and the base of a round dome (think Squinch!)
pendentive
round center of a stain glass window; A circular painting or relief sculpture
roundel
half a dome; especially as formed by a vertical section; as over a semicircular apse.
semidomes
Passage or open corridor of a basilica; church; hall; or other building that parallels the main space; usually on both sides; and is delineated by a row; or arcade; of columns or piers.
side aisles
the roughly triangular space enclosed by the curves of adjacent arches and a horizontal member connecting their vertexes
spandrels
what we do when we see “dat apse!”
squinch
War plunder; like stone from temples; used to construct new buildings. Most early christian buildings were made of this.
spolia
The part of a church with an axis that crosses the nave at a right angle.
Transept
