Cathedrals and Mosques: Expressions of Faith

Vocabulary terms covering the architectural features, functions, and styles of cathedrals and mosques based on lecture notes.

Cathedral

A multi-functional building serving as a sanctuary for the mass, the administrative seat of the bishop, an educational and municipal center, and a focal point for an urban community.

Romanesque Style

An architectural style used c. $800-1100$ characterized by Greco-Roman principles, Latin cross floor plans, thick stone walls, heavy piers, and small windows.

Gothic Style

A style used c. $1200-1500$ that represents a clear break with the classical past, featuring soaring spires, pointed arches, rib vaults, huge stained glass windows, and flying buttresses.

Sahn

A courtyard through which the congregation typically enters the mosque for worship.

Mihrab

A prayer niche located so that congregants face towards Mecca while praying.

Minaret

A tower used by the muezzin to call the community to prayer five times daily.

Qubba

A dome, often incorporated into mosque design as a symbolic representation of the vault of heaven.

Narthex

The entrance area or vestibule located at the end of the nave in a Romanesque floor plan.

Nave

The central part of a church building, flanked by side aisles in a Romanesque or Gothic floor plan.

Transept

The area of a church that crosses the nave at a right angle, forming the arms of the Latin cross floor plan.

Ambulatory

A walking space or passage around the apse in a Romanesque floor plan.

Apsidioles

Small apse-like chapels placed along the ambulatory or transept of a pilgrimage church.

Compound piers

Structural supports consisting of a central pier with attached shafts, typically found in Romanesque and Gothic architecture.

Crossing

The junction where the nave and the transept intersect in a cruciform floor plan.

Flying buttresses

External masonry structures in Gothic architecture that resist the lateral thrust of a roof or vault.

Rib vaults

A masonry vault with a framework of diagonal arched ribs, characteristic of the Gothic style.