Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- n. , (Christianity) The space anterior to the narthex of a church, sometimes roofed-over as with a porch, but more often an enclosed courtyard; in antiquity, the courtyard where catechumens were permitted to be close to the Eucharist, but forbidden to see it celebrated.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. In a Greek church, the outer narthex or vestibule, in case there were two, as in the church of St. Sophia in Constantinople, the inner narthex being called the esonarthex.
Etymologies
Examples
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Parallel to the esonarthex is the exonarthex, with pictures from the life of Christ, concentrating on his infancy.
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Its walls are covered with a light ocher-colored plaster instead of marble, but it is still imposing with its lofty dome and King Milutin's exonarthex and three-story bell tower.
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In some of the larger churches there are two Nartheces -- the esonarthex and the exonarthex, the latter serving the purpose of an extended porch.
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The catholicon (main church) was built in the 14th century and belongs to the single-aisled domed type with lite, narthex, exonarthex and an oblong roofed portico on the south side
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a wide atrium with colonnaded passages and two vestibules (the exonarthex is practically obliterated).
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