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A parish church is a church built to meet the needs of people localised in a geographical area called a parish. The vast majority of Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran church buildings fall into this category. A parish church may also be a basilica, a cathedral, a conventual or collegiate church, or a place of pilgrimage.
Early church architecture did not draw its form from Roman temples, as they did not have large internal spaces where worshipping congregations could meet. It was the Roman basilica used for meetings, markets, and courts of law that provided a model for the large Christian church and that gave its name to the Christian basilica. [4]
Choir (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. [3] 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. [4]
In a church in which part of the body of the church extends beyond the transept, then this extension is architecturally termed the "chancel", for which the stricter definition includes only the choir and the sanctuary with the high altar, but in the common wider definition includes the whole eastern arm beyond the crossing. [28]
The nave (/ n eɪ v /) 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. [1] [2] When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type building, the strict definition of the term "nave" is restricted to the central aisle. [1]
This category contains articles about church architecture and related architectural elements, rooms and spaces. This category should not be used for articles about individual buildings. Contents
This is an arch which separates the chancel from the nave and transept of a church. [4] If the chancel, strictly defined as choir and sanctuary, does not fill the full width of a medieval church, there will usually be some form of low wall or screen at its sides, demarcating it from the ambulatory or parallel side chapels.
The word church derives from the Greek ekklesia, meaning the called-out ones. Its original meaning is to refer to the body of believers, or the body of Christ. [1] The word church is used to refer to a Christian place of worship by some Christian denominations, including Anglicans and Catholics.