apse
apse, apsis (pl. apses, apsides). Recess, generally semicircular on plan, and vaulted, projecting from an external wall, the interior forming a large, deep volume. It is often a feature terminating the nave of a basilica, containing the high altar. Apses forming chapels were built on the eastern sides of transepts of larger churches (e.g. Lincoln Cathedral), and some, termed apse-chapels, were arranged round a semicircular apse-aisle or ambulatory as in the complex chevet form of larger French churches. Some apses are canted rather than curved on plan.
More From encyclopedia.com
NEARBY TERMS
apse
