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A crux immissa or Latin cross. A Latin cross or crux immissa is a type of cross in which the vertical beam sticks above the crossbeam, [1] giving the cross four arms. Typically the two horizontal and upper vertical arm are the same length, although sometimes the vertical is shorter, however the lower vertical arm is always much longer than any other arm.
The main body of the building, making the longer arm of the cross, where worshippers congregate, is called the nave. The term is from the Latin word for ship. 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.
In churches of Western European tradition, the plan is usually longitudinal, in the form of the so-called Latin Cross, with a long nave crossed by a transept. The transept may be as strongly projecting as at York Minster or not project beyond the aisles as at Amiens Cathedral .
Several Christian cross variants are available in computer-displayed text. A Latin cross ("†") is included in the extended ASCII character set, [1] and several variants have been added to Unicode, starting with the Latin cross in version 1.1. [2] For others, see Religious and political symbols in Unicode.
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.
The Latin word basilica was initially used to describe a Roman public building usually located in the forum of a Roman town. [ 18 ] [ 19 ] After the Roman Empire became officially Christian , the term came by extension to refer to a large and influential church that has been given special ceremonial rights by the Pope . [ 20 ]
More often, the transepts extended well beyond the sides of the rest of the building, forming the shape of a cross. This design is called a Latin cross ground plan, and these extensions are known as the "arms" of the transept. [1] A Greek cross ground plan, with all four extensions the same length, produces a central-plan structure.
Plan of a large Latin cross church, with the chancel (strict definition) highlighted.This chancel terminates in a semicircular sanctuary in the apse, and is separated from the curved walls to the east in the diagram by an ambulatory.