# Squinch > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Squinch > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Squinch.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squinch > Source revision: 1357067388 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Architectural element used to support a dome}} {{About|an architectural feature|square-inch analysis|Square-inch analysis}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}} [[File:Odzun cupola.jpg|thumb|250px|Squinches supporting a dome in [Odzun Basilica](/source/Odzun_Church), [Armenia](/source/Armenia), early 8th century]] A '''squinch''' is a structural element in [architecture](/source/architecture) used to support the base of a circular or octagonal [dome](/source/dome) above a square-plan chamber.Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, 1986, p. 1145 Squinches are placed to diagonally span each of the upper internal [vertices](/source/vertex_(geometry)) where the walls meet. When constructed from masonry, they have several forms, including a graduated series of stepped arches; a hollow, open half-cone (like half of a funnel laid horizontally, also called a '''trumpet arch'''{{MW|trumpet arch}}); or a small [half-dome](/source/Semi-dome) niche. They are designed to evenly spread the load of a dome across the intersecting walls on which it rests, thus avoiding concentrating higher structural stress on smaller load-bearing areas. By bridging corners, they also visually transition a round or near-circular zone to an angular space. Squinches originated in the [Sassanid Empire](/source/Sassanid_Empire) of Ancient Persia, and have remained in use across Central and West Asia into modern times. From its pre-Islamic origin, it developed into an influential structure for [Islamic architecture](/source/Islamic_architecture).{{cite journal |last1=Labisi |first1=Giuseppe |title=Squinches and Semi-domes between the Late Sasanian and Early Islamic Periods |journal=Iran |date=2 July 2020 |volume=58 |issue=2 |pages=236–249 |doi=10.1080/05786967.2019.1633241}}{{multiref2|1={{cite magazine |last1=Cresswell |first1=K. A. C. |title=Persian Domes Before 1400 AD |date=January 1915 |publisher=Burlington Magazine Publications, Ltd |location=London |pages=146–155 |volume=26 |issue=142 |magazine=The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs |ref=none |JSTOR=859853 |url= https://archive.org/details/burlingtonmagazi26londuoft/page/146/mode/2up }} |2={{cite magazine |author-mask=2 |last1=Cresswell |first1=K. A. C. |title=Persian Domes Before 1400 AD: Conclusion |date=February 1915 |publisher=Burlington Magazine Publications, Ltd |location=London |pages=208–213 |volume=26 |issue=143 |magazine=The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs |url=https://archive.org/details/burlingtonmagazi26londuoft/page/208/mode/2up |JSTOR=859962 |ref=none}} }}{{cite encyclopaedia |last1=O'Kane |first1=Bernard |author1-link=Bernard O'Kane (scholar) |title=Domes |date=15 December 1995 |publisher=Encyclopaedia Iranica Foundation |volume =VII |at=Fasc. 5, pp.{{nbsp}}479–485 |edition=Online |url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/domes |encyclopaedia=Encyclopaedia Iranica |orig-date=Updated 27 February 2013}} [Georgia](/source/Georgia_(country)) and [Armenia](/source/Armenia) also inherited the form from the Sassanids, where squinches were widely employed in buildings of all kinds. They are heavily featured in surviving or ruined [medieval](/source/medieval) Christian churches of the region.{{cite conference |last1=Khoshtaria |first1=David |title=The Squinch in the Architecture of the Caucasus|date=January 2016 |conference =Against Gravity: Building Practices in the Pre-industrial World, March 20–22, 2015; Center for Ancient Studies |publisher=University of Pennsylvania, School of Arts and Sciences |book-title =Against Gravity: Building Practices in the Pre-industrial World |editor1= Robert Ousterhout|editor2= Dorian Borbonus|editor3= Elisha Dumser|url= https://www.sas.upenn.edu/ancient/publications.html}} An alternative approach to the structural problem of translating square space to round superstructure is the [pendentive](/source/pendentive), much used in late Roman Empire and Byzantine architecture.{{cite conference |last1=Kula |date= January 2012 |first1=Seda |title=A Survey and Forms Catalogue for Dome and Transitional Element Usage in the Early Ottoman Architecture|conference=Domes in the World Congress, Florence – March 2012 |url=https://www.academia.edu/76910387/A_Survey_and_Forms_Catalogue_for_Dome_and_Transitional_Element_Usage_in_the_Early_Ottoman_Architecture}} Domes built in the Roman-influenced world utilised separately-evolved construction methods.{{r|kane|huff}} ==History== === Western Asia === The dome chamber in the [Palace of Ardashir](/source/Palace_of_Ardashir), the Sassanid king, in [Firuzabad](/source/Firuzabad%2C_Fars), Iran, is the earliest surviving example of the use of the squinch.{{cite encyclopaedia |last1=Huff |first1=D. |title=Architecture iii. Sasanian Period |date= 15 December 1986 |publisher=Encyclopaedia Iranica Foundation |volume =II |at=Fasc. 3, pp.{{nbsp}}329–334 |edition=Online |url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/architecture-iii |encyclopaedia=Encyclopaedia Iranica |orig-date=Updated 11 August 2011}}{{cite journal |last1=Golzari |first1=Elaheh |last2=Rabb |first2=Péter |title=Revisiting the Geometry of the Transition Zone Using Filposh Squinches in Ardeshir Palace |journal=Építés – Építészettudomány |date=26 September 2022 |volume=50 |issue=3-4 |pages=351–364 |doi=10.1556/096.2022.00079 |url=https://akjournals.com/view/journals/096/50/3-4/article-p351.xml |language=en |issn=1588-2764|doi-access=free }} After the rise of Islam, it remained a feature of [Islamic architecture](/source/Islamic_architecture), especially in [Iran](/source/Iran), and was often covered by [corbelled](/source/corbelled) [stalactite](/source/stalactite)-like structures known as [muqarnas](/source/muqarnas). It was used in [Western Asia](/source/Western_Asia) and the [Middle East](/source/Middle_East), and in eastern [Romanesque architecture](/source/Romanesque_architecture), although pendentives are more common in [Byzantine architecture](/source/Byzantine_architecture). The [Hagia Sophia](/source/Hagia_Sophia) features both squinches and pendentives, in combination. ===Western Europe=== The feature spread to the Romanesque architecture of western Europe. The earliest squinch still extant in Europe is the 5th-century [Baptistery of San Giovanni in Fonte, Naples](/source/Baptistery_of_San_Giovanni_in_Fonte%2C_Naples).{{cite book |last1=Dalton |first1=O. M. |title=East Christian Art: A Survey of the Monuments |date=1925 |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford |edition= New York: Hacker Art Books; 1975 facsimile |url=https://archive.org/details/eastchristianart0000dalt/page/86/mode/2up |chapter=The Penditive and Squinch |pages=85–87 |url-access= registration |id=[Ormonde Maddock Dalton] |quote={{nbsp}}... the squinch was the earliest method employed in Armenia; and its appearance in a domed building over a square plan as far east as Chinese Turkestan (Turfan), which dates from the eighth century at latest, supports [the]{{nbsp}}... contention that it is an indigenous Asiatic invention, employed from the first in the domed Iranian dwellinghouse, which is still erected in almost its primitive form to-day.|quote-page=86}} {{isbn|978-0-87817-135-4}}. A later example is the 12th-century Norman [church of San Cataldo, Palermo](/source/church_of_San_Cataldo%2C_Palermo), in Sicily. This has three domes, each supported by four doubled squinches. ==Etymology== The word may possibly originate, the ''[Oxford English Dictionary](/source/Oxford_English_Dictionary)'' suggests, from the French word ''escoinson'', meaning "from an angle", which became the English word "scuncheon" and then "scunch".{{multiref2|1={{cite dictionary |url= https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/squinch |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180312083511/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/squinch |url-status= dead |archive-date= 12 March 2018 |title=squinch (1) noun |dictionary= Oxford Living Dictionaries |access-date= 11 March 2018}}|2= {{Cite dictionary |title =squinch, noun (Architecture) |url = https://www.dictionary.com/browse/squinch |dictionary = Dictionary.com |access-date = 2015-10-24 |date = 2015}} }} ==Gallery== File:Squinch.jpg|Conical squinch (trumpet arch) in the [Palace of Ardashir](/source/Palace_of_Ardashir) in [Fars province](/source/Fars_province), Iran File:Battistero di San Giovanni in Fonte- wall.JPG|Squinch in the Baptistery of San Giovanni in [Fonte](/source/Fonte%2C_Veneto), Italy ==See also== * [Early and simple domes](/source/Early_and_simple_domes) * [Persian domes](/source/Persian_domes) * [Ancient Roman and Byzantine domes](/source/Ancient_Roman_and_Byzantine_domes) * [Splayed arch](/source/Splayed_arch), an arch with conical [intrados](/source/intrados) ==References== {{Reflist}} ==Further reading== * {{cite book |last1=Bier |first1=Lionel |title=Sarvistan: A study in early Iranian architecture |date=1986 |publisher=College Art Association of America by Pennsylvania State University Press |isbn=978-0-271-00416-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/sarvistanstudyin0000bier/page/6/mode/2up |ref=none}} * {{cite web |title=Palace of Ardashir |url=https://madainproject.com/palace_of_ardashir |website=Madain Project |publisher=Abrahamic History & Archaeology}} ==External links== *{{Commons category-inline|Squinches}} {{Islamic architecture}} {{Authority control}} Category:Domes Category:Arches and vaults Category:Architectural elements Category:Islamic architectural elements --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Squinch](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squinch) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squinch?action=history)). 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