For the periodical go to The Transept.A
transept (with 2
semitransepts) is a transverse section, of any building, which lies across the main body of the building.
"Transept", ProbertEncyclopaedia.com, web:
.
In Christian churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the
nave in a
cruciform ("
cross-shaped") building in
Romanesque and
Gothic Christian church architecture. Each half of a transept is known as a
semitransept.
The transept of a church separates the nave from the
sanctuary, whether
apse,
choir,
chevet,
presbytery or
chancel. The transepts cross the nave at the
crossing, which belongs equally to the main nave axis and to the transept. Upon its four
piers, the crossing may support a
spire, a central
tower (see
Gloucester Cathedral) or a crossing
dome. Since the
altar is usually located at the east end of a church, a transept extends to the north and south. The north and south end walls often hold decorated
windows of
stained glass, such as
rose windows, in stone
tracery.
Occasionally, the
basilicas and the church and
cathedral planning that descended from them were built without transepts; sometimes the transepts were reduced to matched
chapels. More often, the transepts extended well beyond the sides of the rest of the building, forming the shape of a cross. This design is called a "Latin cross" ground plan, and these extensions are known as the
arms of the...
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