Choir (architecture)
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A choir, also sometimes called quire, is the area of a church or cathedral that provides seating for the clergy and church choir. It is in the western part of the chancel, between the nave and the sanctuary, which houses the altar and Church tabernacle. In larger medieval churches it contained choir-stalls, seating aligned with the side of the church, so at right-angles to the seating for the congregation in the nave. Smaller medieval churches may not have a choir in the architectural sense at all, and they are often lacking in churches built by all denominations after the Protestant Reformation, though the Gothic Revival revived them as a distinct feature.
The choir of Bristol Cathedral, with the nave seen through the chancel screen, so looking west
The Quire in Palencia Cathedral in northern Spain, an example of a monastic quire
Choir stalls at Boston Stump, Lincolnshire. A seat has been lifted to reveal the misericord.
Elaborately carved choir stalls at Buxheim Charterhouse in Bavaria, by Ignaz Waibl
Cathedra
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A cathedra is the raised throne of a bishop in the early Christian basilica. When used with this meaning, it may also be called the bishop's throne. With time, the related term cathedral became synonymous with the "seat", or principal church, of a bishopric.
The cathedra of the Pope in the apse of St. John Lateran, the cathedral of Rome
Modern cathedra at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles
Cathedra (19th century) showing arms of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania, at the Church of the Good Shepherd (Rosemont, Pennsylvania)
Bernini's massive sculptural reliquary for the Cathedra Petri, the "Chair of Peter", is in St. Peter's Basilica, Rome, and placed above and behind one of the altars