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Full descriptions of the elements of a Gothic floorplan are found at the entry Cathedral diagram.
Romanesque nave of the abbey church of Saint-Georges-de-Boscherville, Normandy, France In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral and church architecture, the nave ( Medieval Latin navis, "ship," probably from the keel shape of its vaulting) is the central and principal part of a church, extending from the entry narthex to the chancel (http://wiktionary.org/wiki/Chancel) and flanked by lower aisles outside the nave area (plan, right). The height of the nave provided space for clerestory windows above the aisle roofs, which gave light to the interior. The architectural antecedents of this construction lay in the secular Roman basilica, a kind of covered stoa adjacent to a forum, 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. In later styles the triforium was eliminated, the aisles lowered and great expanses of stained glass took the place of the clerestory windows.
The nave, ecclesiastically considered, was the area reserved for the non-clergy (the "laity"), while the chancel or choir were reserved for the clergy, and a rood screen separated the sanctuary from the nave (see Cathedral diagram for details). Pews in the nave are a comparatively modern, Protestant innovation.
Some naves
- Highest vaulted nave: Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, 38 meter (124 feet) (Beauvais is 46 meter (150 feet) high in the choir.)
See also
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