In architecture, an apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an exedra. In Byzantine, Romanesque, and Gothic Christian church architecture, the term
Typical early Christian Byzantine apse with a hemispherical semi-dome in the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare, Classe, Italy
Triple apse of Basilica di Santa Giulia, northern Italy
East end of the abbey church of Saint-Ouen, showing the chevet, Rouen, Seine-Maritime, France
A chevet apse vault, Toulouse, France
In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a st
Apse
…elsewhere, especially in shrines. 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…
Digital reconstruction of the 2nd century BC Basilica Sempronia, in the Forum Romanum
19th century reconstruction of the 2nd century AD Basilica Ulpia, part of the Trajan's Forum, Rome
Ruins of Yererouk basilica 4th–5th century AD
Ruins of the late 5th century AD basilica at Mushabbak, Syria