Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Architecture Glossary
a place to walk in a cloister; also an aisle, often semicircular, running behind the high altar in a
church
ambulatory
apse
a semicircular or polygonal recess with a domed roof over a church's altar
baldachino
(baldachin)
a stone canopy built over an altar or tomb; often supported by columns and freestanding
baroque
style of European art, architecture and music of the 17th and 18th centuries
an oblong hall with an apse at the end of the nave; used in ancient Rome for public assemblies and
later adopted as a blueprint for medieval churches
basilica
capital
the head of a pillar or column
enclosed court attached to a church or monastery; consists of a roofed ambulatory surrounding an
open area
cloister
colonnade
a row of columns supporting a roof or other structure
crypt
an underground room beneath a church used for services and burials
cupola
a rounded dome forming part of a ceiling or roof
the part of a classical facade that sits on top of the columns; it consists of an architrave, on top of
which is a decorative frieze and cornice
entablature
forum
in ancient Rome, a public space used for judicial business and commerce
a horizontal band, often with painted or sculptural decoration, that sits between the architrave and
cornice
frieze
futurism
Italian early 20th-century artistic movement that embraced modern technology
loggia
a gallery or room with one side open, often facing a garden
nave
the central aisle in a church, often separated from parallel aisles by pillars
dominant style of art and architecture in the late 18th and early 19th centuries; a return to ancient
Roman styles
neoclassicism
pilaster
a rectangular column attached to a wall from which it projects
portico
a porch with a roof supported by columns
