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Glossary of architectural terms

Abacus: the flat stone slab underneath the entablaturethat forms the top of the capital of a classical columnsupporting a beam.Amphitheatre: an elliptical theatre without a stage.Architrave: alongitudinal lintel spanning an opening in awall, door or window.Arch: a curved architectural structure that supports weighton two points (pillars, columns etc.). Can be found invarious forms.Capital: the top part of a column that is usually dividedinto: collarino, frieze, ovolo and abacus.Column: a load-bearing structural element generally madeup of base, shaft and capital.Crepidoma: a stone platform made up of three levelsupon which temples were built.Cupola: a dome-like structure, on top of a building madeup of a cylindrical tambour and the cupola itself. At the topthere is a small room or aedicule known as the Lantern.Dosseret: an element in the form of an up-side down half-pyramid placed between the capital and the arch.Drum: any of the blocks of stone that make up the shaft ofa column.Echinus: A convex molding situated between the abacusand column of the capital.Entasis: the bulging of the shaft in the middle of a column,used to correct an optical illusion that makes the centralpart of a column appear narrower than the two ends.Exedra: generally a large, open niche or apse.Fornix: the open space within an arch.Metope: a rectangular space, often sculpted, thatseparates the two triglyphs in a Doric frieze.Naos or cella: the inner chamber of a temple.Nave: the central, longitudinal in a basilica or cathedral,situated between tow lines of columns or pilasters, orbetween a line of columns or pilasters and an outside wall.

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Pediment: a triangular architectural element typicallyfound above a door, window or in the centre of a faade.Pier: all architectural elements with a supporting function(columns, pilasters).Pilaster strip: a semi-pilaster or semi-column fordecorative purposes applied to a statue made up of baseand capital. It can be distinguished from a pilaster, whichhas a supporting function.Pronaos: the inner porticoed area of a building with acolonnade and pediments.Prostyle: the order of the columns placed in front of atemple.Stylobate: the base of the columns in Greek temples.Temple: a construction dedicated to worshipping a deity.Tholos (or Beehive) Tomb: a round building with adomed roof used for burial purposes.Trabeation: The superstructure which lies horizontallyupon the columns made up of architrave, frieze andcornice.Triglyph: a decorative element consisting of three verticalflutes.Truss: architectural structure in the shape of an isoscelestriangle, used to support the pitch of a sloping roof.