A trefoil arch, or three-foiled cusped arch (occasionally trilobite arch, no connection to an actual

trilobite Trilobites (; meaning "three-lobed entities") are extinction, extinct marine arthropods that form the class (biology), class Trilobita. One of the earliest groups of arthropods to appear in the fossil record, trilobites were among the most succ ...

), is an

arch An arch is a curved vertical structure spanning an open space underneath it. Arches may support the load above them, or they may perform a purely decorative role. As a decorative element, the arch dates back to the 4th millennium BC, but stru ...

incorporating the shape or outline of a

trefoil A trefoil () is a graphic form composed of the outline of three overlapping rings, used in architecture, Pagan and Christian symbolism, among other areas. The term is also applied to other symbols with a threefold shape. A similar shape with f ...

– three overlapping circles. It has been widely used for its symbolic significance in Christian architecture. Trefoil arches are common in

Gothic architecture Gothic architecture is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High Middle Ages, High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It evolved f ...

for portals and decoration. Trefoil or "trilobed" arches are also a characteristic feature of decorated portals in late

Fatimid architecture The Fatimid architecture that developed in the Fatimid Caliphate (909–1167 CE) of North Africa combined elements of eastern and western architecture, drawing on Abbasid architecture, Byzantine, Ancient Egyptian, Coptic architecture and N ...

and

Mamluk architecture Mamluk architecture was the architectural style that developed under the Mamluk Sultanate (1250–1517), which ruled over Egypt, the Levant, and the Hijaz from their capital, Cairo. Despite their often tumultuous internal politics, the Mamluk su ...

in Egypt, from approximately the 12th to 16th centuries. File:Rampillon Saint-Éliphe 491.JPG, Trefoil arch in the choir of the parish Church of Saint-Eliphe (13th century),

Rampillon Rampillon () is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. The inhabitants are called ''Rampillonnais''. It is home to the 13th-century church of ''Sainte Eliphe'', with a portal decorated ...

Seine-et-Marne Seine-et-Marne () is a department in the Île-de-France region in Northern France. Named after the rivers Seine and Marne, it is the region's largest department with an area of 5,915 square kilometres (2,284 square miles); it roughly covers its ...

( Ile-de-France) File:Normandie Calvados Bayeux4 tango7174.jpg, Trefoil arches at the

Bayeux Cathedral Bayeux Cathedral, also known as Cathedral of Our Lady of Bayeux (French language, French: ''Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Bayeux''), is a Roman Catholic church architecture, church located in the town of Bayeux in Normandy, France. A Monument histori ...

(11th century),

Calvados Calvados (, , ) is a brandy from Normandy in France, made from apples and/or pears. History In France Apple orchards and brewers are mentioned as far back as the 8th century by Charlemagne. The first known record of Norman distillation was ma ...

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

, France

References

{{architecturalelement-stub Arches and vaults

See also

References