Cathedral floor plan (crossing is shaded)

A crossing, in ecclesiastical architecture, refers to the junction of the four arms of a cruciform (cross-shaped) church. Religious architecture is the style and requirements followed for building religious buildings. ... Cruciform means having the shape of a cross. ...

In a typically oriented church (especially of Romanesque and Gothic styles), the crossing gives access to the nave on the west, the transept arms on the north and south, and the choir on the east. Interior of the Saint-Saturnin church St-Sernin basilica, Toulouse, 1080 – 1120: elevation of the east end Romanesque sculpture, cloister of St. ... See also Gothic art. ... Links to full descriptions of the elements of a Gothic floorplan are also found at the entry Cathedral diagram. ... Full descriptions of the elements of a Gothic floorplan are found at the entry Cathedral diagram. ... The choir stalls in the quire of Bristol Cathedral, Bristol, England A quire is the area of a church where the liturgical singers sit, also known as the choir located usually in the western part of the chancel (between the nave and the altar), but occasionally in the eastern part...

The crossing is sometimes surmounted by a tower or dome. Because the crossing is open on four sides, the weight of the tower or dome rests heavily on the corners; a stable construction thus required great skill on the part of the builders. In centuries past, it was not uncommon for overly ambitious crossing towers to collapse. The Eiffel Tower Fire-observation watchtower in Kostroma, Russia. ... This article is about the building structural element. ...

A tower may be called a lantern if it has openings through which light from outside can shine down to the crossing.

Crossing and lantern tower, Rouen Cathedral Rouen Cathedral is a gothic cathedral in Rouen, France. ...	Crossing with dome, Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore is the cathedral church, or Duomo, of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Florence, noted for its distinctive dome. ... Founded 59 BC as Florentia Region Tuscany Mayor Leonardo Domenici (Democratici di Sinistra) Area  - City Proper  102 km² Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density (city proper) 356,000 almost 500,000 3,453/km² Time zone CET, UTC+1 Latitude Longitude 43°47 N 11°15 E www. ...	Crossing tower, Canterbury Cathedral Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (427x604, 59 KB) Summary Canterbury Cathedral, Central Tower, South Transept &c. ... Canterbury Cathedral from the southwest. ...	Flèche above crossing, Notre Dame de Paris View of Notre Dame showing its flèche A flèche (from the French for arrow) is used in French architecture to refer to a spire and in English to refer to a lead-covered timber spire. ... Notre Dame de Paris, Western Façade. ...
Crossing tower, Saint-Sernin Basilica This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...	Plan of St-Sernin, showing enlarged piers to support tower