Nave

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Nave

In Romanesque

Romanesque architecture

Romanesque architecture is the term that is used to describe the architecture of Middle Ages Europe which evolved into the Gothic architecture style beginning in the 12th century....
and Gothic

Gothic architecture

Gothic architecture is a style of architecture which flourished during the high and late Middle Ages. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
Christian abbey

Abbey

An abbey , is a Christianity monastery or convent, under the government of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serves as the spiritual father or mother of the community....
, cathedral

Cathedral

A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop. It is a Religion building for worship, specifically of a denomination with an episcopal hierarchy, such as the Roman Catholic Church, Anglicanism, Orthodox Christian and some Lutheranism churches, which serves as a bishop's seat, and thus as the central church of a dioc...
basilica

Basilica

The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a ancient Rome public building , usually located in the Forum of a Roman town. In Hellenistic cities, public basilicas appeared in the 2nd century BC....
and church architecture

Architecture

The term architecture can refer to a process, a profession or documentation.As a process, architecture is the activity of designing and construction buildings and other physical structures by a person or a computer, primarily to provide shelter....
, the nave is the central approach to the high altar

Altar

An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices and votive offerings are made for religion, or some other sacred place where ceremonies take place....
. "Nave" (Medieval Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
navis, "ship,") was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting

Vault (architecture)

A Vault is an architecture term for an arched form used to provide a space with a ceiling or roof. The parts of a vault exert a thrust that require a counter Friction....
. The nave of a church, whether Romanesque, Gothic or Classical, extends from the entry — which may have a separate vestibule, the narthex

Narthex

The narthex of a Church is the entrance or lobby area, located at the end of the nave, at the far end from the church's main altar. Traditionally the narthex was a part of the church building, but was not considered part of the church proper....
— to the chancel and is flanked by lower aisles separated from the nave by an arcade

Arcade (architecture)

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Encyclopedia

In Romanesque

Romanesque architecture

Romanesque architecture is the term that is used to describe the architecture of Middle Ages Europe which evolved into the Gothic architecture style beginning in the 12th century....
and Gothic

Gothic architecture

Abbey

An abbey , is a Christianity monastery or convent, under the government of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serves as the spiritual father or mother of the community....
, cathedral

Cathedral

Basilica

Architecture

Altar

An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices and votive offerings are made for religion, or some other sacred place where ceremonies take place....
. "Nave" (Medieval Latin

Latin

Vault (architecture)

Narthex

Arcade (architecture)

An arcade is a passage or walkway covered over by a succession of arches or Vault supported by columns. In a Gothic architecture cathedral the arcade is the lowest part of the wall of the nave, supporting the triforium and the clerestory....
. If the aisles are high and of a width comparable to the central nave, the structure is sometimes said to have three naves.

Though to a modern visitor the nave seems to be the principal part of a Gothic church, churches were sometimes built as funds became available, working outward from the liturgically essential sanctuary, and many were consecrated before their nave was completed. Many naves were not completed to the initial plan, as tastes changed, and some naves were never completed at all. In Gothic architecture, the precise number of arcaded bays in the nave was not a material concern.

The height of the nave provides space for clerestory

Clerestory

Clerestory is an architecture term denoting an upper level of a Roman basilica or of the nave of a Romanesque architecture or Gothic architecture church , the walls of which rise above the rooflines of the lower aisles and are pierced with windows....
windows above the aisle roofs, which give light to the interior, leaving the apse in shadow, as at the abbey of Saint-Georges-de-Boscherville

Saint-Georges de Boscherville Abbey

Saint-Georges de Boscherville Abbey is located in the communes of France of Saint-Martin-de-Boscherville, in Seine-Maritime, France....
. The architectural antecedents of this construction lay in the secular Roman basilica

Basilica

Stoa

Stoa in Architecture of Ancient Greece; covered walkways or porticos, commonly for public usage. Early stoae were open at the entrance with columns lining the side of the building, creating an enveloping, protective atmosphere and were usually of Doric order....
sited adjacent to a forum

Forum (Roman)

The Forum was the public space in the middle of a Ancient Rome city.A gathering place of great social significance, it was often the scene of diverse activities, including political discussions, meetings, et cetera....
, where magistrates met and public business was transacted.

In Romanesque constructions, where a gallery was required to allow passage above the aisles, an addition to the elevation of the nave was inserted, called a triforium

Triforium

A Triforium is a shallow gallery of arches within the thickness of inner wall, which stands above the nave in a Church or Cathedral. It may occur at the level of the clerestory windows, or it may be located as a separate level below the clerestory....
. In later styles the triforium was eliminated, the aisles lowered and great expanses of stained glass took the place of the clerestory windows, as at Bath Abbey (illustration, left).

The crossing is the part of the nave that also belongs to the transepts that intersect its space. The crossing may be surmounted by a tower or spire, or by a dome

Dome

A dome is a structural element of architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a sphere. Dome structures made of various materials have a long architectural lineage extending into prehistory....
in Eastern churches, a feature that was reintroduced to the West at the Renaissance

Renaissance

The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe....
, first in Filippo Brunelleschi

Filippo Brunelleschi

Filippo Brunelleschi was one of the foremost architects and engineers of the Italian Renaissance. All of his principal works are in Florence, Italy....
's San Lorenzo (illustration right). Brunelleschi restored the original Roman form of the basilica and consciously revived Roman details, such as the flat coffered ceiling. Clerestory windows still light San Lorenzo's nave, setting apart in dimness the crossing, with its small dome. In other contexts, lanterns and openings above the transept might bathe the crossing in more light instead. The crossing may be further distinguished from the nave by the rhythm of its architecture: wider-spaced piers supporting the higher vaulting of the transepts.

The nave was the area reserved for the non-clergy (the "laity"), while the chancel and choir

Apse

In architecture, the apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault . In Romanesque architecture, Byzantine architecture and Gothic architecture Christian abbey, cathedral and church architecture, the term is applied to the semi-circular or polygonal section of the sanctuary at the liturgical east end beyond the altar....
were reserved for the clergy, and a rood screen

Rood screen

The rood screen is a common feature in late medieval parish church architecture. It is typically an ornate screen, constructed of wood, stone or wrought iron....
(cancellus) separated the sanctuary from the nave. Rood screens were swept away by Protestant reformers in the 16th century. Fixed pew

Pew

A pew is a long bench furniture bench used for chair seating members of a Church building church's congregation.Churches were not commonly furnished with permanent pews before the coming of the Protestant Reformation....
s in the nave are a comparatively modern, Protestant innovation. On weekdays the large open area often served for the town marketplace, political meetings, places of various trades including, on some occasions, even that of prostitution. Often smelling of animal dung and human urine, naves were not very clean places. Hence, rood screens were used to separate the more sacred areas of the cathedral and keep out the unwashed and unholy.

Record-holding church naves

Longest nave in England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
: St Albans Cathedral
St Albans Cathedral

St Albans Cathedral is an Church of England Cathedral church at St Albans, England. At 84 metres , its nave is the longest of any cathedral in England....
, St Albans
St Albans

Saint Albans is a city in southern Hertfordshire, England, around north of central London, which forms the main urban area of the City and District of St Albans....
(Anglican), .
Longest nave in France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
: Bourges Cathedral, , including choir where a crossing would be if there were transepts.
Longest nave in Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
: Cologne cathedral
Cologne Cathedral

Cologne Cathedral is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne, under the administration of the Roman Catholic Church and is renowned as a monument of Christianity, of Gothic architecture and of the faith and perseverance of the people of the city in which it stands....
, , including two bays between the towers.
Longest nave in Italy
Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
: St Peter's Basilica in Rome
Rome

Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
, , in four bays.
Longest nave in Spain
Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
: Seville
Seville

||-||}Seville is the artistic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of Andalusia and of the province of Seville ....
, , in five bays.
Longest nave in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
: Cathedral of Saint John the Divine
Cathedral of Saint John the Divine

The Cathedral of St. John the Divine, officially the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine in the City and Diocese of New York, is the Cathedral of the Episcopal Diocese of New York....
, New York City
New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
, United States (Episcopalian), .
Highest vaulted nave: Beauvais Cathedral, France, high but only one bay of the nave was actually built but choir and transepts were completed to the same height.
Highest completed nave: Rome, St. Peter's
St. Peter's Basilica

The Basilica of Saint Peter , officially known in Italian language as the Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano and commonly known as St. Peter's Basilica, is located within the Vatican City....
, Italy, high.
Highest completed vaulted nave: Cathedral of Milan, Italy, high.

Nave

Record-holding church naves

See also