A triforium is an interior
gallery, opening onto the tall central space of a building at an upper level. In a church, it opens onto the
nave
The nave () 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. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-typ ...
from above the
side aisle
An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parli ...
s; it may occur at the level of the
clerestory windows, or it may be located as a separate level below the clerestory. Masonry triforia are generally
vaulted and separated from the central space by
arcades. Early triforia were often wide and spacious, but later ones tend to be shallow, within the thickness of an inner wall, and may be
blind arcades not wide enough to walk along. The outer wall of the triforium may itself have windows (glazed or unglazed openings), or it may be solid stone. A narrow triforium may also be called a "blind-storey", and looks like a row of window frames.
History
''Triforium'' is derived from the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
''tres'', ''tria'' "three", and ''foris'', "door, entrance"; its
Greek equivalent is τρίθυρον, which originally referred to a building with three doors.
The earliest examples of triforia are those in the
pagan basilica
In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its nam ...
s, where a triforium constituted an upper gallery for conversation and business; in the early Christian basilicas such a passageway was usually reserved for women, and the same applied to those in the
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...
.
In
Romanesque and
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
buildings it is either a spacious gallery over the side
aisle
An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, pa ...
s or is reduced to a simple passage in the thickness of the walls; in either case it forms an important architectural division in the
nave
The nave () 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. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-typ ...
of the cathedral or church, and being of less height gives more importance to the ground storey or nave arcade. In consequence of its lesser height its
bay
A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a na ...
was usually divided into two
arches, which were again subdivided into two smaller arches and these subdivisions increased the apparent scale of the aisle below and the clerestory above.
On account of the richness of its mouldings and carved ornament in the sculpture introduced in the
spandrels, it became the most highly decorated feature of the interior. The triforium at
Lincoln has been described as one of the most beautiful compositions of English Gothic architecture.
[Peter Kidson et al., A history of English architecture (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1965) p. 85] Even when reduced to a simple passage it was always a highly enriched feature. In the 15th-century churches in England, when the roof over the aisles was comparatively flat, more height being required for the clerestory windows, the triforium was dispensed with altogether. In the great cathedrals and
abbey
An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns.
The c ...
s the triforium was often occupied by persons who came to witness various ceremonies, and in early days was probably used by the monks and clergy for work connected with the church.
The triforium sometimes served structural functions, as under its roof are arches and
vaults which carry thrust from the nave to the outer wall. When the
flying buttress
The flying buttress (''arc-boutant'', arch buttress) is a specific form of buttress composed of an arch that extends from the upper portion of a wall to a pier of great mass, in order to convey lateral forces to the ground that are necessary to pu ...
was frankly adopted by the Gothic architect and emphasized by its architectural design as an important feature, other cross-arches were introduced under the roof to strengthen it.
Matroneum
A matroneum (plural: matronea; earlier also matronaeum, plural matronaea) in architecture is a gallery on the interior of a building, originally intended to accommodate women, in el, γυναικαίον, gynaikaion, Latinised as ''gynecaeum''.
This definition is disputed by Valerio Ascani, professor of the history of medieval art at the
University of Pisa: according to Ascani, ''matronea'' were in fact intended for all persons who could not, or did not want to, enter the main body of the church below, including men as well as women, although the sexes were always separated to left and right.
In medieval churches, matronea lost their function of accommodation and became purely architectonic elements, placed over the side
aisle
An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, pa ...
s with the structural purpose of containing the thrust of the
central nave, and came to consist solely of bays so placed.
In
Early Gothic churches, the matronea were one of the four elements which constituted the interior walls (arch, matroneum, triforium and
clerestory), but they grew rare in the succeeding period of full-blown
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture (or pointed architecture) is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It ...
.
Gallery
File:A day in ancient Rome; being a revision of Lohr's "Aus dem alten Rom", with numerous illustrations, by Edgar S. Shumway (1885) (14591980537).jpg, The Roman forum; note people looking out from the triforium of the Basilica Julia, above left. The arches on both sides of the basilica's triforium were unglazed.
File:Basilica Julia.jpg, Model of the Basilica Julia, showing triforium as an upper-story arcade around a full-height central hall
File:Basilica 4.png, Interior of the Basilica Ulpia
The Basilica Ulpia was an ancient Roman civic building located in the Forum of Trajan. The Basilica Ulpia separates the temple from the main courtyard in the Forum of Trajan with the Trajan's Column to the northwest. It was named after Roman em ...
, architectural reconstruction. In use, the basilica
In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its nam ...
would have contained law courts, banking, and a covered marketplace.
File:2013-01-03 Interior of Hagia Sophia 09.jpg, Interior of the domed 6th-century Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia ( 'Holy Wisdom'; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque ( tr, Ayasofya-i Kebir Cami-i Şerifi), is a mosque and major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The cathedral was originally built as a Greek Ortho ...
, with a wide triforium gallery beneath the rows of clerestory and upper dome windows.
Image:malmesbury.abbey.interior.2.arp.jpg, The Norman Malmesbury Abbey, showing the triforium, with its rounded arches and chevron mouldings, each arch supported by four small arches on columns. This triforium contains an unusual projecting watching-loft. There is also another passage above, at the base of the clerestory windows. Malmesbury, Wiltshire, England
Image:malmesbury.abbey.trifolium.arp.jpg, Malmesbury Abbey, showing the location of the triforium. It lies between the lower (aisle) windows and the upper (clerestory) windows, as arrowed. It is shallow, as it is inside the roofspace of the side aisles.
Image:Triforium of the Temple Church, London.jpg, View of (and from) the circular triforium in the round church of the Temple Church in London. Built by the Knights Templar and consecrated in 1185.
File:Basilica (arquitetura) PT en.svg, A cross-section of a similar building, with a narrow triforium no wider than the wall
File:Notre-Dame de Paris transverse section.svg, In contrast, the triforium of the early Gothic Notre-Dame de Paris has windows on the outside wall, and is the same width as the innermost side aisle arcade below ( details).
File:CATHEDRAL OF NOTRE DAME.jpg, Interior view of Notre-Dame's nave
The nave () 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. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-typ ...
wall, showing (top to bottom) clerestory window, triforium, and side aisle openings.
File:Wettbewerb Wikipedia Kölner Dom (4).jpg, Triforium in Cologne Cathedral
Cologne Cathedral (german: Kölner Dom, officially ', English: Cathedral Church of Saint Peter) is a Catholic cathedral in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and of the administration of the Archdiocese ...
( Gothic Revival). The outer wall of this triforium contains large stained-glass windows.
File:Kilic Ali Pasha Mosque 8942.jpg, Triforium of the Kılıç Ali Pasha Mosque Kılıç is a Turkish word meaning "sword" and may refer to:
Places
* Kılıç, Anamur, a village in Anamur district of Mersin Province, Turkey
* Kılıç, Gerger, a village in Gerger district of Adıyaman Province, Turkey
Other uses
* Kılıç ...
File:Dalian large Shopping Mall 2005.jpg, Triforium in a shopping mall in Dalian, a public space more similar in purpose to the Roman basilicas
See also
*
Cathedral architecture of the Western World
The architecture of cathedrals and great churches is characterised by the buildings' large scale and follows one of several branching traditions of form, function and style that derive ultimately from the Early Christian architectural traditi ...
References
*
External links
Pitt.edu: Triforium*
Vitruvius, a Roman architect, on
how to design a basilica
{{Authority control
Architectural elements
Church architecture
Mosque architecture