chevet

architecture

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chevet, eastern end of a church, especially of a Gothic church designed in the French manner. Beginning about the 12th century, Romanesque builders began to elaborate on the design of the area around the altar, adding a curved ambulatory behind it and constructing a series of apses or small chapels radiating from the ambulatory. Chevet design became most elaborate during the 13th century, and examples can be seen in the cathedrals of Rheims and Chartres.

In its most specific sense, the word, which derives from an Old French term for “head,” refers to this type of ambulatory-apse structure, although it can also be applied more generally to the area containing the principal apse of a church.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.