• Abacus
    Flat top of the capital of a column.
  • Abbey
    Main or sole church built in conjunction with an abbey
  • Abbey
    A building inhabited by a community of monks or nuns governed by an autonomous leader
  • Abutment
    Solid masonry placed to counteract the lateral thrust of a bridge, arch, or vault.
  • Altar
    A structure on which to place or sacrifice offerings to a deity. In a Christian church the altar is usually a stone table or slab on supports, on which the celebration of the sacrament takes place.
  • Alure
    A passage or gallery behind a parapet at the top of a wall of a fortification.
  • Ambulatory
    A semicircular or polygonal aisle. Often an ambulatory leads around the east end of the choir.
  • Apse
    The semi-circular termination of the east end of the chancel or chapel.
  • Apsidiole
    Semi-circular chapel (in the transept or chancel) or secondary apse .
  • Arcade
    A series of arches supported by columns or piers.
  • Arcature
    Series of small arcades topped by an arch.
  • Arch
    A carved structural member that spans an opening.
  • Arch moulding
    Concentric arches set back from one another above a doorway or a window and topped by the archivolt.
  • Architrave
    The beam which extends across the top of the columns; it forms the lowest part of the entablature.
  • Archivolt
    Set of arches rising above a doorway. In the Romanesque and gothic styles, the archivolt frames the tympanum, a richly sculpted panel.
  • Arms of a transept
    Sections of the transept on each side of the crossing.
  • Astragal
    A small plain or ornamental moulding.
  • Attic
    A room, usually with sloping ceilings, just beneath the roof
  • Avant-corps
    Part of a building which projects prominently from the main facade.

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