Lantern tower

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Lantern tower (left) and bell tower at Tarazona Cathedral, Spain Tarazona cathedrale 2.jpg
Lantern tower (left) and bell tower at Tarazona Cathedral, Spain

In church architecture, the lantern tower is a tall construction above the junction of the four arms of a cruciform (cross-shaped) church, with openings through which light from outside can shine down to the crossing (so it also called a crossing lantern).

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Many lantern towers are octagonal and give an extra dimension to the decorated interior of the dome.

An affiliated term is the Italian tiburio, which is the lantern atop a dome. Like a lantern tower, a tiburio is often polygonal and interspersed with windows both to lighten the load and allow for light to shine. The word tiburio is from the Medieval Latin tiburium (lit.'hut', a variant of tugurium ). [1] [2]

See also

References

  1. Bogdanovic, Jelena (2017). The Framing of Sacred Space. Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-068137-1. For example, Pope Symmachus (498–514) described canopies as tiburium and tegurium, meaning "small house" or "hut." Other Latin synonyms were tugurinum, tiburinum, tiguriam, cyburium, cipurium, ciborium, fastigium, tegurmentum, tibutium, tegimen […]
  2. Loi, Maria Cristina; Patetta, Luciano (2005). Tradizioni e regionalismi nel primo Rinascimento italiano (in Italian). Unicopli. p. 44. ISBN   978-88-400-1051-9. alla voce tiburio, si legge "tigurium, tiburium (latino medievale). Copertura esterna di una cupola […]