1. Romanesque Architecture
Architectural Terms
Connie Daugherty
Whatcom Community College
Church plan of St. Philibert, Tournus.
Courtesy of

2. For Students working independently:
Click once on a slide to locate where the architectural part belongs on the plan.
Doubleclick on the name of a church for a photographic or drawn example (on a website).
Exit each photograph to return to the Powerpoint presentation.
Click to continue to the next page.

3. Church Façade with west towers
The face or front wall of a building
Façade of Saint-Etienne, Caen
Façade of La Trinite, Abbaye aux-hommes, Caen
Facade of Vezelay

4. Church Portal
Tympanum: semicircular area directly over the door lintel
Trumeau: Pier, column, or post at the center of a large portal, supporting the door lintel.
Archivolts: curved moldings formed by voussoirs making up an arch
Voussoirs: wedge-shaped stone blocks used to build an arch
Portal vocabulary, Autun
Portal, Autun
Tympanum, Moissac
Trumeau, Moissac
Tympanum, Vezelay

5. Narthex Entrance porch or vestibule of a church
View from Narthex, Tournus

6. Nave Main hall, usually flanked by aisles Tournus Fontenay nave
Cluny nave and nave arcade (site is good but slow)
Durham nave, nave arcade, and apse
Conques nave

7. A series of arches carried by columns or piers, flanking the nave.
Nave Arcade
A series of arches carried by columns or piers, flanking the nave.
Nave Arcade, Conques
Nave Arcade, Fontenay
Nave Arcade, Vezelay

8. Gallery and Clerestory, Caen
Above the Nave Arcade:
Gallery:The story above the side aisles, usually open and overlooking the nave
Triforium: between the nave arcade or colonnade and the clerestory, (sometimes made up of openings from the upper part of the gallery). Covers the blind area created by the sloping roof over the aisles.
Gallery, Durham
Gallery, Durham
Gallery and Clerestory, Caen

9. Crossing
The part of a cross-shaped church where the nave and transept meet, often marked by a tower or dome.
Crossing and Crossing Tower, Paray-le-Monial
Interior Crossing, Tournus
Interior Crossing, Conques

10. Transepts Arm of a cruciform church, perpendicular to the nave
Exterior Transepts, Paray-le-Monial
Transepts with towers, Cluny

11. Fontenay Choir and Apse
Section of a Christian church reserved for the clergy or religious, between the crossing and the apse (or in the nave just before the crossing)
Fontenay Choir and Apse
Tournus Choir and Apse

12. Apse
Apse: large, semicircular (or polygonal) niche. In a Christian church, it contains the altar.
Souillac apse and radiating chapels
Interior of apse, Vezelay
Apse, Segovia

13. Souillac apse and radiating chapels
Radiating Chapels:small, usually semicircular or polygonal chapels that expand out from the apse and apse ambulatory.
Souillac apse and radiating chapels

14. Choir and ambulatory, Vezelay
Walkway around the apse in a church (or around the central space in a central-plan building)
Choir and ambulatory, Vezelay

15. Side Aisles, Romanesque
Side Aisles, Tournus
Side Aisles, Tournus
View from Side Aisles, Savin-sur-Gartempe, Poitou
View from Side Aisles, Vezelay
Side Aisles, Fontenay Abbey

16. Cloister
An open space, part of a monastery, surrounded by an arcaded or colonnaded walkway, often with a fountain and garden.
Plan of Cluny, with Cloister (cloitre)
Drawing of Church and Cloister, Wenlock
Cloister, Moissac
Cloister, Moissac

17. Cluster Columns, Colonettes, Capitals
Durham cluster columns and piers
Tournus cluster column
Caen cluster columns