Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
The narthex is an architectural element typical of early Christian and Byzantine basilicas and churches consisting of the entrance or vestibule, located at the west end of the nave, opposite the church's main altar. [1] Traditionally the narthex was a part of the church building, but was not considered part of the church proper.
Plan of Old St Peter's Basilica, showing atrium (courtyard), narthex , central nave with double aisles, a bema for the clergy extending into a transept, and an exedra or semi-circular apse. The church building grew out of a number of features of the Ancient Roman period: The house church; The atrium; The basilica; The bema
The church building is divided into three main parts: the narthex , the nave (the temple proper) and the sanctuary (also called the altar or holy place). A major difference of traditional Orthodox churches from Western churches is the absence of any pews in the nave. In some ethnic traditions of Orthodoxy, it was deemed disrespectful to sit ...
The rest of the iron framework of the church is concealed by masonry. The narthex at the entrance of the church is lined by very tall classical columns topped with Corinthian capitals, with very elaborate traditional sculptures of leaves and flowers, as well as small, sculptured heads of men and women supporting the bases of the rounded arches. [1]
It is sometimes used synonymously with narthex. The structural purpose of the massive westwork is to resolve the horizontal thrust of the east-to-west arcades of the nave. [3] Church towers as a part of a church began with the construction of the first westworks. [4] Charlemagne dreamt of reviving the Roman Empire in the West. [5]
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 aisle. [1]
Most of the interior decorative elements have Christian symbolism, in reference to the church's Episcopal roots, but the cathedral is filled with memorials to persons or events of national significance: statues of Washington and Lincoln, state seals embedded in the marble floor of the narthex, state flags that hang along the nave, stained glass ...
The narthex serves as an entrance hall, but also for special liturgical functions, such as baptism, and as an honored site of burial (often, as in the case of the Martorana in Palermo, for the founders of the church). The naos is the space where the congregation stands during the service.