campanile: Italian name for a bell tower, usually one that is detached from the main building.
canon tables: A table of concordance for two or more parallel texts of the Gospels, usually the one compiled by Eusebius of Caesarea in the fourth century.
capital: Decorative element that divides a column or pier from the masonry which it supports.
See also: column, pier, shaft, base, abacus
Types of capital
catacomb: Subterranean burial chamber used during the Roman Empite. Catacombs were used for burial, not only by Christians, but they are usually associated with Christianity because the Christians held services in the catacombs while they were still persecuted by the Romans (First to early fourth centuries A.D., though the persecution was not always severe at all times during this period). Some of the catacombs are decorated with Christian paintings.
Compare with cryptcentrally-planned building: A building in which the sides are of equal length and in which the main space is symmetrical when bisected laterally and longitudinally. A centrally-planned building may be square, circular, or polygonal. The most important feature of a centrally-planned building is the open space at the center of the building, developed around a vertical axis.
See also: sarcophagus, mausoleum, memorial brass
Contrast with longitudinally-planned building
ciborium: (1) A box in
which the Host (wafers or bread for the Eucharist) is kept and
(2) A canopy
resting on columns over the altar.
cinqfoil:
A five-lobed ornamental shape.
chalice:
A cup on a stem, used to contain the ecuharistic
wine; the same shape was also used in a secular context
chancel arch:
The arch which separates the chancel (sanctuary or choir) from the nave of
a church.
chapter house: A meeting place for the
chapter or governing body of a monastery or a cathedral.
chevron: A zig-zag
motif.
choir:
The area of the church between a transept and main apse. It is the
area where the service is sung and clergy may stand, and the main
or high altar is located. In some churches there is no choir,
while in others, the choir is quite large and surrounded by an
ambulatory.
choir screen: A screen, made of wood or
stone, usually decorated with painting orsculpture, which separates the choir
from the rest of the church
clerestory: An upper story of a building
with windows above adjacent roofs.
cloister: Part of a monastery; a
quadrangle surrounded by covered passages. It connects the domestic parts
of the monastery with the
church. Usually located on the south
side of the church.
cloister vault or segmented
dome:
A dome placed over a polygonal base. It is not a semi-sphere, but is
formed of curved sections which correspond to the parts of the polygon on
which it rests.
codex (plural codices):
A manuscript that is sewn together in the form of a book, with a spine and
often a cover. The codex form replaced the scroll as the most common
form of manuscript in the Early Christian period.
coffer:
The sunken area created between the crossing of structural
members. Coffers often appear in a flat ceiling or
on the interior surface of a dome. They are often the focus of
decoration and serve also to lighten the weight of the structure.
colonnade:
A row of columns which support horizontal members, called an
architrave, rather than arches.
column:
A cylindrical support, usually structural but often decorative.
composite pier:
A type of pier that is composed not of a single member but has
shafts, half-columns, or pilaster strips attached to it.
confessio:
A type of crypt which consists of a series of linked passages.
The most famous confessio crypt during the Middle Ages was that of
Old Saint Peter's church in Rome, which contained the tomb os Saint Peter.
corbel: A projection from a wall
which sometimes supports (or appears to support)
a structural member such as a shaft.
Corinthian capital
:
A capital used originally by the Greeks in a system
of supports called the Corinthian order. The Corinthian
capital was developed further in Roman times and used often in the
medieval period, again, without strict adherence to the rest of the
system. It is
decorated with 3 superimposed rows of carved foliage (acanthus leaves)
around the capital. At the comers of the capital there are small
volutes.
crenelation or battlement:
A parapet with alternating openings (embrasures) and raised
sections (merlons), often used on castle walls and towers for defense
purposes.
crocket capital
:
A simplified adaptation of the Corinthian capital. The
crocket capital was commonly used in the Gothic period.
cross section:
A diagram showing a building as if it had been cut at
right angles to the ground plan.
crossing:
Area of a church where the at nave, choir, and transept
intersect.
crossing pier:
In the interior of a building, a support that is placed
at one of the corners of the crossing.
crossing tower:
The tower which sometimes occurs above the space at the
intersection of the nave, chancel, and transept
of a church.
crozier: A staff
carried by a bishop, archbishop, abbot or abbess. It
is in the shape of a
shepherd's crook, and has symbolic significance
connected with the New
Testament idea of Christ as shepherd of a flock.
The crook and staff of
the crozier may be heavily decorated.
crypt:
An underground chamber for relics or tombs.
For definition
(1), compare with pxy, see also
paten, chalice
Compare with trefoil,
quatrefoil
See also paten,
pyx
See also
nave,
choir.
Other parts of monastery:
cloister,
refectory,
scriptorium
See also
other repetative decorative motifs
See also altar,
choir screen
Other parts of a church:
ambulatory,
apse,
crossing,
east end,
nave,
transept,
west end
See also choir
Other parts of interior elevations: arcade,
gallery or tribune,triforium
Other parts of monastery:
chapter house,
refectory,
scriptorium
Compare with
pendentive,
squinch
Contrast with arcade
See also
architrave,
column,
pier
Other parts of a column:
abacus or impost block,
capital,
shaft,
base
Compare with
pier,pilaster
See also applied or
engaged column,
arcade,
colonnade
See also
alternation of support,
pier
Other types of piers:
drum pier
See also crypt
Other types of crypt:
hall crypt
See also: column,
capital,
abacus or impost block
See also
other types of capital See also: column,
capital,
abacus or impost block.
See
also
other
types of
capitalCompare with
ground or floor plan
See also
crossing tower
Other parts of a church:
ambulatory,
apse,
choir,
east end,
nave,
transept,
west end
See also:
crossing,
crossing tower
pier
See also:
crossing,crossing pier
See also processional cross
See also catacomb
Types of crypt: confessio,
hall crypt
See also: capital, column.
See also other types of capital
cusp: A curved, triangular-shaped projection from the inner curve of an arch or circle.