clerestory

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clerestory

architecture

Also known as: clearstory

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clerestory, in architecture, any fenestrated (windowed) wall of a room that is carried higher than the surrounding roofs to light the interior space. In a large building, where interior walls are far from the structure’s exterior walls, this method of lighting otherwise enclosed, windowless spaces became a necessity. One of the earliest uses of the clerestory was in the huge hypostyle hall of King Seti I and Ramses II at the Temple of Amon (1349–1197 bc, Karnak, Egypt), in which the central range of columns, higher than those on either side, permitted clerestories to be built of pierced stone slabs.

In Roman architecture many great halls were lighted with clerestories. Usually, groined vaults over the central hall allowed large semicircular windows to be built above the side roofs, as in the tepidarium of the Baths of Diocletian (3rd century ad) and the Basilica of Constantine (ad 310–320), both in Rome. This device was used in Byzantine and Early Christian architecture, as exemplified by the clerestory walls under the side arches of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople (532–563).

The clerestory became most highly developed and widely used in the Romanesque and Gothic periods. The Chartres cathedral (1194), for example, has pairs of lancet clerestory windows that are almost as wide as the aisle windows.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Chelsey Parrott-Sheffer.

Gothic architecture

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The north rose window in Chartres Cathedral, Chartres, France.

Requena: Gothic portal of the church of Santa María

The interior of Gloucester Cathedral cloisters, England, begun 1337.

Gothic architecture

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Last Updated: Mar 24, 2025 • Article History

Key People:: Ralph Adams Cram

Related Topics:: stained glass; Flamboyant style; Rayonnant style; Perpendicular style; English Decorated style

On the Web:: CNN Style - Gothic architecture: Can the 12th-century style radically change how we build today? (Mar. 24, 2025)

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Gothic architecture, architectural style in Europe that lasted from the mid-12th century to the 16th century, particularly a style of masonry building characterized by cavernous spaces with the expanse of walls broken up by overlaid tracery.

In the 12th–13th century, feats of engineering permitted increasingly gigantic buildings. The rib vault, flying buttress, and pointed (Gothic) arch were used as solutions to the problem of building a very tall structure while preserving as much natural light as possible. Stained-glass window panels rendered startling sun-dappled interior effects. One of the earliest buildings to combine these elements into a coherent style was the abbey of Saint-Denis, Paris (c. 1135–44). The High Gothic years (c. 1250–1300), heralded by Chartres Cathedral, were dominated by France, especially with the development of the Rayonnant style. Britain, Germany, and Spain produced variations of this style, while Italian Gothic stood apart in its use of brick and marble rather than stone. Late Gothic (15th-century) architecture reached its height in Germany’s vaulted hall churches. Other late Gothic styles include the British Perpendicular style and the French and Spanish Flamboyant style.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Alicja Zelazko.