In Western

ecclesiastical architecture Church architecture refers to the architecture of Christian buildings, such as Church (building), churches, chapels, convents, and seminaries. It has evolved over the two thousand years of the Christian religion, partly by innovation and partly ...

, a cathedral diagram is a

floor plan In architecture and building engineering, a floor plan is a technical drawing to scale, showing a view from above, of the relationships between rooms, spaces, traffic patterns, and other physical features at one level of a structure. Dimensio ...

showing the sections of walls and piers, giving an idea of the profiles of their columns and ribbing. Light double lines in perimeter walls indicate glazed windows. Dashed lines show the ribs of the

vaulting In architecture, a vault (French ''voûte'', from Italian ''volta'') is a self-supporting arched form, usually of stone or brick, serving to cover a space with a ceiling or roof. As in building an arch, a temporary support is needed while ring ...

overhead. By convention, ecclesiastical floorplans are shown map-fashion, with north to the top and the

liturgical Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, remembra ...

east end to the right. Many abbey churches have floorplans that are comparable to cathedrals, though sometimes with more emphasis on the sanctuary and choir spaces that are reserved for the religious community. Smaller churches are similarly planned, with simplifications.

Design

Cathedral floorplans are designed to provide for the

liturgical rites Rites (), liturgical rites, and ritual families within Christian liturgy refer to the families of liturgies, Rite (Christianity), rituals, prayers, and other practices historically connected to a place, denomination, or group. Rites often intera ...

of the church.French Cathedrals, René Jacques; Translated by Dorothy Plummer; Wilhelm Andermann, Munich, 1959 Before the legalization of Christianity by Emperor

Constantine Constantine most often refers to: * Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I * Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria Constantine may also refer to: People * Constantine (name), a masculine g ...

, Christians worshiped in private homes or in secretive locations.The Cathedral, Course Guidebook; William R. Cook, State University of New York at Geneseo; The Great Courses, The Teaching Company; Chantilly, VA; 2010 Once legally able to publicly worship, the local congregations adapted the available

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

designs to their needs. Unlike the Roman and

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

religions, where priests performed rituals without public participation, Christian worship involved the believers. Thus, the limited spaces typically used in pagan temples were not suitable to Christian worship. Roman civic buildings were designed for the participation of the citizens of the city, and thus the Roman

Basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

was adopted for Christian purposes. This included an entry on one end of a long narrow, covered space with a raised

dais A dais or daïs ( or , American English also but sometimes considered nonstandard)dais
in the Random House Dictionary< ...

at the other end. Upon the dais, public officials would hear legal cases, or expound on some matter of public interest.

Glossary

Aisle An aisle is a linear space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, in buildings such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parliaments, courtrooms, ...

: A pair of walkways that are parallel to the primary public spaces in the church, e.g. nave, choir and transept. The aisles are separated from the public areas by pillars supporting the upper walls, called an arcade.''Cathedral, The Story of Its Construction''; David Macaulay; The Trumpet Club; New York City; 1973 *

Ambulatory The ambulatory ( 'walking place') is the covered passage around a cloister or the processional way around the east end of a cathedral or large church and behind the high altar. The first ambulatory was in France in the 11th century but by the 13t ...

: A specific name for the curved aisle around the choir *

Apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

: The end of the building opposite the main entry. Often circular, but it can be angular or flat. In medieval traditions, it was the east end of the building. *

Buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient (typically Gothic) buildings, as a means of providing support to act ...

: Large stone pier holding the roof vaults in place. A buttress may be visible as in the

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

flying buttress The flying buttress (''arc-boutant'', arch buttress) is a specific form of buttress composed of a ramping arch that extends from the upper portion of a wall to a pier of great mass, to convey to the ground the lateral forces that push a wall ou ...

, or it may be hidden in the complex of aisles and galleries. *

Cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

: The home church of a

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

, which contains the

cathedra A ''cathedra'' is the throne of a bishop in the early Christian basilica. When used with this meaning, it may also be called the bishop's throne. With time, the related term ''cathedral'' became synonymous with the "seat", or principa ...

or bishop's chair. The church may be of any size. *

Chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

: A smaller spaces inside a church that has its own altar **

Lady chapel A Lady chapel or lady chapel is a traditional British English, British term for a chapel dedicated to Mary, mother of Jesus, particularly those inside a cathedral or other large church (building), church. The chapels are also known as a Mary chape ...

: a chapel dedicated to "Our Lady", Mary, mother of Jesus ** Radiating Chapels: Located around the Apse of the church, accessible from the Ambulatory. *

Choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

(or Quire): The part of the church usually beyond the transept and in line with the axis of the nave. The area may be higher than the level of the nave. The name choir is used because traditionally the clergy of the Cathedral stood here as a chorus, chanting or singing during the responsive portion of Divine Offices or Mass.''Webster's New World Dictionary'', Second Concise Edition; David B. Guralnik, General Editor; Simon and Schuster; New York City; 1979 *

Crypt A crypt (from Greek κρύπτη (kryptē) ''wikt:crypta#Latin, crypta'' "Burial vault (tomb), vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, Sarcophagus, sarcophagi, or Relic, religiou ...

: Usually the below ground foundation. Used for burial or as a chapel. * Facade: The outside of the church, where the main doors are located. In traditional medieval design, this faced the west and is called the West End. *

Narthex The narthex is an architectural element typical of Early Christian art and architecture, early Christian and Byzantine architecture, Byzantine basilicas and Church architecture, churches consisting of the entrance or Vestibule (architecture), ve ...

: The entrance or lobby area, located at the west end of the nave. *

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-type ...

: The primary area of public observance of the Mass. It is generally the largest space, and located between the narthex and sanctuary. *

Sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred space, sacred place, such as a shrine, protected by ecclesiastical immunity. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This seconda ...

: An elevated platform that contains the main altar and associated liturgical elements that is restricted for ceremonial use by the clergy, often fenced from adjoining spaces. It is centered on the main east–west axis within the east end and generally located within the choir or the apse. *

Transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...

: Sometimes called the ‘Crossing’, the transept forms wings at right angles to the nave. In early Romanesque churches, it was often at the east end, creating a Tau Cross. Later designs placed the transept about two-thirds of the way from the West End to the East End. This created the Latin cross plan.

References

External links

*
Salisbury Cathedral floor plan

Canterbury Cathedral:
several floor plans
Durham Cathedral Layout
{{webarchive , url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080720164753/http://www.exeter-cathedral.org.uk/plan.html , date=July 20, 2008 Church architecture Diagrams

Design

Glossary

See also

References

External links