Apse

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title: "Apse" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["arches-and-vaults", "church-architecture"] description: "Semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apse" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome ::

::callout[type=note] the architectural feature ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/Basilica_of_Sant'Apollinare_in_Classe_-_Mosaic.jpg" caption="Typical early Christian Byzantine apse with a hemispherical [[semi-dome]] in the [[Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/Apse.png" caption="Typical floor plan of a cathedral, with the apse shaded"] ::

In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin absis, 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek ἀψίς, grc, 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an exedra. In Byzantine, Romanesque, and Gothic Christian church (including cathedral and abbey) architecture, the term is applied to a semi-circular or polygonal termination of the main building at the liturgical east end (where the altar is), regardless of the shape of the roof, which may be flat, sloping, domed, or hemispherical. Smaller apses are found elsewhere, especially in shrines.

Definition

An apse is a semicircular recess, often covered with a hemispherical vault. Commonly, the apse of a church, cathedral or basilica is the semicircular or polygonal termination to the choir or sanctuary, or sometimes at the end of an aisle.

Smaller apses are sometimes built in other parts of the church, especially for reliquaries or shrines of saints.

History

The domed apse became a standard part of the church plan in the early Christian era.

Related features

In the Eastern Orthodox Church tradition, the south apse is known as the diaconicon and the north apse as the prothesis. Various ecclesiastical features of which the apse may form part are drawn together here.

Chancel

Main article: Chancel

The chancel (or sanctuary), directly to the east beyond the choir, contains the high altar, where there is one (compare communion table). This area is reserved for the clergy, and was therefore formerly called the "presbytery", from Greek presbuteros, "elder", or in older and Catholic usage "priest".

Chevet

Chevet-apse chapels

Semi-circular choirs, first developed in the East, which came into use in France in 470. By the onset of the 13th century, they had been augmented with radiating apse chapels outside the choir aisle, the entire structure of apse, choir and radiating chapels coming to be known as the chevet (French, "headpiece").

Gallery

Giulia1.JPG|Triple apse of Basilica di Santa Giulia, northern Italy Stouen2.jpg|East end of the abbey church of Saint-Ouen, showing the chevet, Rouen, Seine-Maritime, France Église Notre-Dame de la Dalbade (Interieur) - Voutes.jpg|A chevet apse vault, Toulouse, France West Dean - St Marys Church - geograph.org.uk - 994828.jpg|Apsed chancel of St Mary's Church, West Dean, Wiltshire, England Monreale-bjs-3.jpg|The decorated apse of the Cathedral of Monreale, Sicily Manila Cathedral altar.jpg|The apse of Manila Cathedral, Philippines Jona (SG) - Busskirch St Martin IMG 9213 ShiftN.jpg|The apse of St. Martin church in Busskirch, community Jona, Switzerland ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/The_Dome_of_the_Church_of_St._Edward.jpg" caption="The apse of the [[Church of St. Edward, Busto Arsizio"] ::

References

• Joseph Nechvatal, "Immersive Excess in the Apse of Lascaux", Technonoetic Arts 3, no. 3, 2005.

References

1. "Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception: Floor Plan".
2. "Apse". Encyclopædia Britannica.
3. "Where in the New Testament are Priests Mentioned".
4. Moss, Henry, ''The Birth of the Middle Ages 395-814'', Clarendon Press, 1935
5. [https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/109871/chevet "Chevet"], ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]''

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::