Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised May 31, 2026

Separating arch

A separating arch is an arch, which, as arcade, separates the nave of a church from the side aisle, or an arch between two adjacent side aisles. It is found mainly in hall churches. A separating arch can be replaced constructively or decoratively emphasised by a vault rib. In this case one speaks - instead of an arcade arch - also of a separating arch.

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A separative arch in the St. Zeno church after the 1518–1520 gothicisation
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A separating arch is an arch, which, as arcade, separates the nave of a church from the side aisle,1 or an arch between two adjacent side aisles.2 It is found mainly in hall churches.3 A separating arch can be replaced constructively or decoratively emphasised by a vault rib.4 In this case one speaks - instead of an arcade arch - also of a separating arch.5

Separating arches as elements of vaults and wall division

Separating arches delimit a bay in the longitudinal direction.6 A pair of transverse arches and a pair of separating arches result in a vault.7 With the belt arches as well as the pillars or columns at the four corners, the segmental arches form a vault field as the basic element of a vault.8

A wall supported by a separating arch is called a separating wall.9

References

References

  1. Günther Wasmuth (ed.): Wasmuths Lexikon der Baukunst, vol. 4: P - Zyp. Wasmuth, Berlin 1932, p. 293.
  2. Wilfried Koch: Baustilkunde - Europäische Baukunst von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart. Sonderausgabe, Orbis Verlag, München 1988, ISBN 3-572-05927-5, p. 447.
  3. Art. Scheidbogen. In Hans Koepf, Günther Binding: Bildwörterbuch der Architektur. Alfred Kröner Verlag, Stuttgart, 4th edition. 2005, p. 411.
  4. Art. Scheidbogenrippe. In Hans Koepf, Günther Binding: Bildwörterbuch der Architektur. Alfred Kröner Verlag, Stuttgart, 4th edition 2005, p. 411.
  5. Dieter Kimpel, Robert Suckale: Die gothische Architektur in Frankreich, 1130-1270. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1985, p. 24.
  6. Art. Vault. In: Nikolaus Pevsner, Hugh Honour, John Fleming: Encyclopedia of World Architecture. 2nd, expanded ed. 1987, ISBN 3-7913-0652-9, pp. 230–232, here p. 231.
  7. Günther Binding: Architektonische Formenlehre. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt, 4th, revised and supplemented ed. 1998, p. 122.
  8. Art. Gewölbefeld. In Hans Koepf, Günther Binding: Bildwörterbuch der Architektur. Alfred Kröner Verlag, Stuttgart, 4th edition 2005, p. 213.
  9. Wilfried Koch: Baustilkunde. Prestel, Munich, 32nd edition 2014, ISBN 978-3-7913-4997-8, p. 159.
Further reading

Further reading