Church Architecture

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms from the notes on church architecture.

A designed structure used for Christian activities—public worship, prayer, and reception of the sacraments.

Church

A specialized area of building design that incorporates religious, spiritual and symbolic elements into architectural style; often a fusion of multiple styles.

Church Architecture

Greek term meaning 'assembly' or 'the called-out ones' (the Church).

Ekklesia

An example of a Romanesque church featuring rounded arches, three towers and a large apse, with a Baroque exterior grafted on the western side in the 18th century.

Santiago de Compostela Cathedral

Traditionally churches were built with the nave facing east so the rising sun would shine on the altar, symbolically greeting the risen Christ and facing Jerusalem.

Eastward orientation

A church layout with a single meeting space (no separate nave and sanctuary).

One-room format

A church layout with two main spaces—the nave for the congregation and the sanctuary for the clergy—often separated by arches, a screen, or similar separation.

Two-room format

A longitudinal church plan with a nave flanked by aisles, often with transepts and an oriented axis; a common Western church form.

Basilica Style

A cross-shaped ground plan formed by the nave and transepts.

Cruciform Style

Early Christian worship conducted in private houses or synagogues before purpose-built churches; some private buildings were adapted for worship.

House Church

Open-roofed entrance hall or central courtyard often attached to early Christian and Roman houses.

Atrium

Elevated platform or dais used for preaching or reading; in churches, a raised space behind the altar.

Bema

A monumental tomb; in Christian architecture, tombs and mausoleums sometimes inform church sites.

Mausoleum

Churches built as mausoleums housing the tombs of saints or martyrs; often associated with persecution-era worship.

Martyria

A sixth-century Byzantine church in Constantinople (Istanbul), renowned for its domed central plan and profound influence on later architecture.

Hagia Sophia

A screen with icons separating the nave from the sanctuary in Byzantine and Eastern Orthodox churches.

Iconostasis

A church layout organized around a central point (often with a dome) rather than a long nave; common in Byzantine architecture.

Central Plan

Eastern Christian architecture characterized by domes, centralized plans, mosaics, and the influence of Hagia Sophia.

Byzantine Architecture

Branch of Christianity known for its domed central-plan churches, iconography, and liturgical traditions.

Eastern Orthodoxy

A church arrangement with a separate nave for the laity and a sanctuary for the clergy.

Two-room Church

The space around the altar, including the choir and sanctuary, at the liturgical east end of a traditional church.

Chancel

The sacred area around the altar; in broader terms a place of safety or the holy space within the church.

Sanctuary

The structure upon which offerings are made during worship; the 'Holy table' of the church.

Altar

Antechamber, porch, or lobby at the western entrance of a church.

Narthex

A covered passage around a cloister or a processional way behind the high altar.

Ambulatory

An ornate partition between the chancel and nave, often surmounted by a rood loft bearing the Great Rood (crucifix).

Rood Screen

A massive screen (stone or timber) that divides the choir from the nave and ambulatory in medieval churches.

Pulpitum

The area of the church where the clergy and choir are seated, between the nave and the sanctuary.

Choir

High section of wall containing windows above eye level to admit light and air.

Clerestory

The central body of the church where the laity sit; the main aisle between the rear wall and the transept.

Nave

Passageway to the sides of the nave, separated from it by columns or arcades.

Aisle

The transverse arm of a cruciform church that intersects the nave to form a cross; halves are called semi-transepts.

Transept

A semicircular or polygonal termination at the liturgical east end of a church, housing the altar.

Apse

A series of arches supported by columns; can be interior or exterior; a blind arcade is arches set against a solid wall.

Arcade

A carved grotesque figure serving as a water spout to divert rainwater away from walls.

Gargoyle

An architectural support projecting from a wall to reinforce it against lateral forces.

Buttress

A small recessed cupboard in the wall of a church for storing sacred vessels and vestments.

Aumbry

A barrier or screen separating the priests/monks from the laity in cathedrals; part of choir areas in medieval churches.

Lettner/Doxal

A semi-circular choir with aisles or the arrangement around a chevet in some medieval churches.

Chevet

Area beyond the choir in some English cathedrals where priests could perform private devotions.

Presbytery

Arcade is a series of arches; a blind arcade is arches set in a solid wall for decorative purposes.

Arcade vs Blind Arcade

A rounded roof, often signifying the heavens, central to many Byzantine and later church designs.

Dome