{{Short description|Semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome}} {{About|the architectural feature|the astronomical term|apsis|other uses|Apse (disambiguation)|the acronym APS|APS (disambiguation)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}} [[File:Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe - Mosaic.jpg|thumb|Typical early Christian Byzantine apse with a hemispherical semi-dome in the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe]] thumb|Typical floor plan of a cathedral, with the apse shaded In architecture, an '''apse''' ({{plural form}}: '''apses'''; from Latin {{lang|la|absis}}, 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek {{lang|grc|ἀψίς}}, {{Transliteration|grc|apsis}}, 'arch'; sometimes written '''apsis'''; {{plural form}}: '''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.<ref>{{cite web|title=Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception: Floor Plan|url=http://www.nationalshrine.com/site/c.osJRKVPBJnH/b.4953557/k.7180/Upper_Church_Floor_Plan.htm|website=NationalShrine.com|access-date=27 August 2016|archive-date=9 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809205016/http://www.nationalshrine.com/site/c.osJRKVPBJnH/b.4953557/k.7180/Upper_Church_Floor_Plan.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==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.{{citation needed|date=May 2020}}
==History== The domed apse became a standard part of the church plan in the early Christian era.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://m.eb.com/topic/30854|title=Apse|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=10 July 2012}}</ref>
==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|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", {{citation needed|date=June 2014}} or in older and Catholic usage "priest".<ref>{{cite web |title=Where in the New Testament are Priests Mentioned |url=https://www.catholic.com/qa/where-in-the-new-testament-are-priests-mentioned |website=Catholic Answers |access-date=2018-09-01}}</ref>
{{anchor|Chevet}}
===Chevet-apse chapels=== {{Redirect|Chevet|the parish in England|Chevet, West Yorkshire}} {{see also|Apse chapel}}
Semi-circular choirs, first developed in the East, which came into use in France in 470.<ref>Moss, Henry, ''The Birth of the Middle Ages 395-814'', Clarendon Press, 1935</ref> 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").<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/109871/chevet "Chevet"], ''Encyclopædia Britannica''</ref>
== Gallery == <gallery mode="packed"> 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 </gallery> [[File:The Dome of the Church of St. Edward.jpg | thumb | right | The apse of the Church of St. Edward, Busto Arsizio]]
== See also == * Ambulatory * Architectural development of the eastern end of cathedrals in England and France * Byzantine architecture * Cathedral architecture * Church architecture * Narthex * Niche * Scarsella
== References == {{Reflist}} * Joseph Nechvatal, "Immersive Excess in the Apse of Lascaux", ''Technonoetic Arts'' '''3''', no. 3, 2005.
== External links == {{Wiktionary}} {{Commons category|Apses}}
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Apse|volume=2|pages=231–232|first=Richard Phené|last=Spiers|author-link=Richard Phené Spiers}} This has a detailed description of examples in the early church.
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Category:Arches and vaults Category:Church architecture