Aisle
aisle
In architecture, one of the divisions of a church, separated from the nave by rows of columns. In Gothic buildings, the roofs of the aisle are usually lower than that of the nave. Occasionally there is an upper story. Sometimes the aisles stop at the transepts, and often they are continued around the apse. The term is popularly used to describe passages between pews.
Fuente: New Catholic Dictionary
Aisle
(Lat. ala; Old Fr. aile), sometimes written Isle, Yle, and Alley; in architecture one of the lateral or longitudinal divisions of a church, separated from the nave (sometimes called the centre aisle) by rows of piers, pillars, or columns. Sometimes a church has one side-aisle only. Often the aisle is continued around the apse. Occasionally the aisles stop at the transepts. In very large churches transepts may have three aisles. As a rule in Gothic architecture the aisle-roofs are much lower than the nave roof, allowing the admission of light through the clerestory windows, but in most of the Romanesque churches the aisle-roofs are but little lower than that of the nave. The aisle is generally one story, but occasionally there is an upper story, sometimes used as a gallery. As a general rule, churches are divided into three aisles, but there is no fixed rule that governs the number. The cathedrals at Chichester, Milan, and Amiens have five aisles; Antwerp and Paris seven. The most remarkable in this respect, the cathedral of Cordova in Spain, has nineteen. Aisles existed in the Roman basilicas, and in the majority of Christian churches of all periods. Transepts were sometimes called the cross isle or yle. The term is popularly used to describe the passage between pews or seating.
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THOMAS H. POOLE Transcribed by the Cloistered Dominican Nuns of the Monastery of the Infant Jesus, Lufkin, Texas Dedicated to an increase in vocations to religious life
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume ICopyright © 1907 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, March 1, 1907. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., CensorImprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
Fuente: Catholic Encyclopedia
Aisle
is derived from the Latin ala, French aile, a wing, and signifies the wings or sidepassages of the church. The term is incorrectly applied to the middle avenue of a church, which its derivation shows to be wrong. Where there is but one aisle to a transept, it is always to the east. In churches on the continent of Europe the number of aisles is frequently two on either side of the nave and choir, and at Cologne there are even three. SEE CHURCH ARCHITECTURE.