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The nave (/ n eɪ v /) is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] When a church contains side aisles , as in a basilica -type building, the strict definition of the term "nave" is restricted to the central ...
"Nave" (Medieval Latin navis, "ship") was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting. [1] The nave of a church, whether Romanesque, Gothic or Classical, extends from the entry (which may have a separate vestibule, the narthex ) to the chancel and is flanked by lower aisles [ 2 ] separated from the nave by an arcade .
Amiens Cathedral floorplan: massive piers support the west end towers; transepts are abbreviated; seven radiating chapels form the chevet reached from the ambulatory. In Western ecclesiastical architecture, a cathedral diagram is a floor plan showing the sections of walls and piers, giving an idea of the profiles of their columns and ribbing.
A cathedral is symbolically a ship bearing the people of God through the storms of life. In addition, the high wooden roof of a large church is similarly constructed to the hull of a ship. [25] [better source needed] The nave is braced on either side by lower aisles, separated from the main space by a row of piers or columns.
The earliest known churches show the familiar basilican layout. For example, the church of Debre Damo is organized around a nave of four bays separated by re-used monolithic columns; at the western end is a low-roofed narthex, while on the eastern is the maqdas, or Holy of Holies, separated by the only arch in the building. [18]
One of the most notable early examples is the tile floor surrounding the tomb of King Philip I of France, in Fleury Abbey in Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire [22] One of the most famous late examples is the Church of Saint-Pierre-sur-Dives in Calvados, Normandy (13th century). The floor of the nave has a circular design three meters in diameter, made of ...
The nave of an Orthodox church can vary in shape/size and layout according to the various traditions within the Church. The two most common layouts inside Orthodox churches since Justinian have been a cruciform layout, an open square/rectangular layout, or a more linear layout with side-aisles.
Dating from 1098 to 1493, Gloucester Cathedral has a Norman nave with massive masonry piers, and a fine 15th-century Perpendicular tower, but its main feature is the eastern end, reconstructed in the 14th century as an early example of Perpendicular Gothic and with the largest medieval window in the world, the area of a tennis court. The ...