Triforium

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Triforium

A Triforium is a shallow gallery of arches within the thickness of inner wall, which stands above the nave

Nave

In Romanesque architecture and Gothic architecture Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and Church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar....
in a Church or 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...
. It may occur at the level of the 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, or it may be located as a separate level below the clerestory.

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A Triforium is a shallow gallery of arches within the thickness of inner wall, which stands above the nave

Nave

In Romanesque architecture and Gothic architecture Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and Church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar....
in a Church or Cathedral

Cathedral

Clerestory

Tribune (architecture)

Tribune is an ambiguous often misused architecture term which can have several meanings.The word stems from medieval Latin tribuna, from classical Latin tribunal, the elevated placing of a Tribune or other Roman magistrate's seat for official functions such as throne....
.

The origin of the term is unknown but probably derived from thoroughfarum, as it was used as a passage from one end of the building to the other. The derivation from 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....
tres, three, and foris, door, entrance, might also be possible as at this passage the thoroughfares and doors were in triangle shape as can be imagined from the triangled shape of this area. The triangle shape comes from the falling roof as can be seen in the picture on the right between the two arrows.

The earliest examples are those in the pagan

Paganism

Paganism is the blanket term given to describe religions and spiritual practices of pre-Christian Europe, and by extension a term for polytheistic?traditions or folk religion?worldwide seen from a Western or Christian viewpoint....
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....
s, where it constituted an upper galley for conversation and business; in the early Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism#Christian view religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus and interpreted by Christians to have been prophesied in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament....
basilicas it was usually reserved for women, and the same applied to those in the Eastern Orthodox Church

Eastern Orthodox Church

The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest single Christian communion in the world with an estimated 225 million members worldwide. It is considered by its adherents to be the Four Marks of the Church established by Jesus Christ and his Apostles nearly 2000 years ago....
. 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....
buildings it is either a spacious gallery over the side aisle

Aisle

An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of seats on either side or with rows of seats on one side and a wall on the other. Aisles can be seen in certain types of buildings such as Church , synagogues, meeting halls, parliaments and legislatures, courtrooms, theatre s, and in certain types of passenger vehicles....
s or is reduced to a simple passage in the thickness of the walls; in either case it forms an important architectural division in the nave

Nave

In Romanesque architecture and Gothic architecture Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and Church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar....
of the cathedral

Cathedral

Arch

An arch is a structure that Span a space while supporting weight . Arches appeared as early as the 2nd millennium BC in Mesopotamian brick architecture, but their systematic use started with the Ancient Rome who were the first to apply the technique to a wide range of structures....
es, which were again subdivided into two smaller arches and these subdivisions increased the scale.

On account of the richness of its mouldings and carved ornament in the sculpture introduced in the spandrils, it became the most highly decorated feature of the interior, the triforium at Lincoln being one of the most beautiful compositions of Gothic architecture. Even when reduced to a simple passage it was always a highly enriched feature. In the 15th-century churches 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...
, when the roof over the aisles was comparatively flat, more height being required for the clerestory windows, the triforium was dispensed with altogether. In the great cathedrals and 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....
s the triforium was often occupied by persons who came to witness various ceremonies, and in early days was probably utilized by the monks and clergy for work connected with the church.

From the constructive point of view, the triforium sometimes served very important functions, as under its roof exist arches and vaults

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....
carried from the nave to the outer wall, to which they transmitted the thrust

Thrust

Thrust is a reaction force described quantitatively by Isaac Newton's Newton's laws of motion. When a system expels or acceleration mass in one direction the accelerated mass will cause a proportional but opposite force on that system....
of the nave vault; even when the flying buttress

Flying buttress

A flying buttress, or arc-boutant, is a specific type of buttress usually found on a religious building such as a cathedral. They are used to transmit the horizontal thrust of a Vault across an intervening space , to a buttress outside the building....
was frankly adopted by the Gothic architect and emphasized by its architectural design as an important feature, other cross arches were introduced under the roof to strengthen it.

Triforium

See also