Vault (architecture)
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In architecture, a vault is a self-supporting arched form, commonly of stone or brick, serving to cover a space with a ceiling or roof. As in building an arch, a temporary support is needed while ring
Gothic rib vault ceiling of the Saint-Séverin church in Paris
In a pitched-brick vault the bricks lean (are pitched) against an existing wall.
St Paul's Cathedral Choir looking east, London
Pointed barrel vault showing direction of lateral forces
Barrel vault
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A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault, wagon vault or wagonhead vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve along a given distance. The curves are typically cir
Vault (architecture)
…tunnel cut lengthwise in half. The effect is that of a structure composed of continuous semicircular or pointed sections. The earliest known examples of barrel vaults were built by the Sumerians, possibly under the ziggurat at Nippur in Babylonia, which was built of fired bricks cemented with clay mortar. The earliest…
Coffered ceiling of the barrel-vaulted nave in the Temple of Jupiter at Diocletian's Palace in Split, Croatia. Built early 4th century.
Nave of Lisbon Cathedral with a barrel vaulted soffit. Note the absence of clerestory windows, all of the light being provided by the Rose window at one end of the vault.
The Cloisters, New York City
Roman barrel vault at the villa rustica Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, Germany.