Editing Narthex (section)

{{More citations needed|date=August 2023}}{{Short description|Building component}}
{{For|the plant known in antiquity as narthex|Ferula communis}}
[[File:Narthex.png|thumb|Plan of a Western cathedral, with the narthex in the shaded area at the [[Liturgical east and west|western]] end.]]
[[File:HSX Millingen 1912 fig 105.jpg|thumb|Floorplan of the [[Chora Church]], showing both inner and outer narthex.]]
The '''narthex''' is an architectural element typical of [[Early Christian art and architecture|early Christian]] and [[Byzantine architecture|Byzantine]] [[basilica]]s and [[Church architecture|churches]] consisting of the entrance or [[Vestibule (architecture)|vestibule]], located at the west end of the [[nave]], opposite the church's main [[altar]].<ref>By convention, ecclesiastical floor plans are shown map-fashion, with north to the top and the liturgical east to the right. Therefore, some may refer to the narthex as being at the western end of the floor plan. This is done for symbolic reasons, as scriptures say to look for [[Christ]] appearing in the east, thus the location of the altar is known as the liturgical east, regardless of the actual [[cardinal directions]].</ref> Traditionally the narthex was a part of the church building, but was not considered part of the church proper.

In early Christian churches the narthex was often divided into two distinct parts: an esonarthex (inner narthex) between the west wall and the body of the church proper, separated from the nave and [[aisle]]s by a wall, [[arcade (architecture)|arcade]], [[colonnade]], screen, or rail, and an external closed space, the exonarthex (outer narthex),<ref>In other languages a different terminology can arise confusion. For example, in Italian the inner narthex is called ''endonartece'' and the outer narthex ''esonartece'', as the inner narthex in English. Krautheimer (1986), ''passim''</ref> a court in front of the church [[façade]] delimited on all sides by a colonnade as in the first [[Old St. Peter's Basilica|St. Peter's Basilica]] in [[Rome]] or in the [[Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio]] in [[Milan]]. The exonarthex may have been either open or enclosed with a door leading to the outside, as in the [[Byzantine architecture|Byzantine]] [[Chora Church]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/403704/narthex?anchor=ref933261 |title=narthex |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|access-date=23 April 2012}}</ref>

By extension, the narthex can also denote a covered porch or entrance to a building.