Narthex

The narthex is an architectural element in Christian churches consisting of the area reached after opening the church doors; one or three doors in the narthex then open into the nave of the church.^[1]^[2]

The narthex in the floor plans of Christian churches dates back to early Christian and Byzantine basilicas and churches, which consisted of the narthex (entrance or vestibule), located at the west end of the nave, opposite the church's main altar.^[3] 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 aisles by a wall, arcade, colonnade, screen, or rail, and an external closed space, the exonarthex (outer narthex),^[4] a court in front of the church façade delimited on all sides by a colonnade as in the first 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 Chora Church.^[5]

The area outside the entrance of the church (which leads into the narthex) may include a covered porch.

Etymology

The original meaning of the classical Greek word narthex, νάρθηξ, was "giant fennel".^[6] Derived meanings are from the use of the fennel stalk as thyrsus, as a schoolmaster's cane, as a singlestick for military exercise, or as a splint for a broken limb. The term was also used for a case for unguents, and hence as the title of a number of medical works. Use for the architectural feature of church building is medieval Byzantine Greek, in use by the 12th century (Etymologicum Magnum). English use dates from the 1670s. It is not clear how this meaning was derived, allegedly from a resemblance of the entrance area of the church to a hollow stem.

In English the narthex now designates the porch outside the church at the liturgical west end; formerly it was a part of the church building itself,^[7] albeit not considered part of the church proper, used as the place for penitents.^[8]

Purpose

The purpose of the narthex was to allow those not eligible for admittance into the general congregation (particularly catechumens and penitents) to hear and partake of the service. The narthex would often include a baptismal font so that infants or adults could be baptized there before entering the nave, and to remind other believers of their baptisms as they gathered to worship. The narthex is thus traditionally a place of penitence, and in Eastern Christianity some penitential services, such as the Little Hours during Holy Week are celebrated there, rather than in the main body of the church. In the Russian Orthodox Church funerals are traditionally held in the narthex.

Later reforms removed the requirement to exclude people from services who were not full members of the congregation, which in some traditions obviated the narthex. Church architects continued, however, to build a room before the entrance of the nave. This room could be called an inside vestibule (if it is architecturally part of the nave structure) or a porch (if it is a distinct, external structure). Some traditions still call this area the narthex as it represents the point of entry into the church, even if everyone is admitted to the nave itself.

In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the esonarthex and exonarthex had, and still have, distinct liturgical functions. For instance, the procession at the Paschal Vigil will end up at the exonarthex for the reading of the Resurrection Gospel, while certain penitential services are traditionally chanted in the esonarthex.

In some Eastern Orthodox temples, the narthex will be referred to as the refectory or trapeza, because in ancient times, tables would be set up there after the Divine Liturgy for the faithful to eat a common meal, similar to the agape feast of the early church. To this day, this is where the faithful will bring their baskets at Pascha (Easter) for the priest to bless the Paschal foods which they will then take back to their homes for the festive break-fast. Traditionally, the narthex is where candles and prosphora will be sold for offering during Divine Services.

On feast days there will be a procession to the narthex, followed by intercessory prayers, called the Litiy.

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

In early Christian architecture a portion of the church at the west end, separated from the nave by a low wall or screen and reserved for the catechumens, energumens, and penitents who were not admitted amongst the congregation. The Narthex was of two kinds, exterior and interior: the former consisted of an open atrium arcade continued across the front of the church; in the latter, the aisle and gallery were returned across the nave. A survival of the exterior narthex may be found in the church of San Ambrogio at Milan; of the interior narthex, in Santa Agnese, at Rome. The outer narthex was sometimes used as a hall of judgment and for other secular purposes, and, after the sixth century, as a place of burial, while the inner narthex sometimes called the matroneum, was used, probably for certain persons of rank or distinction, rather than as a women's gallery. After the abandonment of the atrium in the West, about 1000, the narthex developed by degrees into the great west porch which is so characteristic of the churches of southern France. Among the monastic orders it continued in use down to the beginning of the thirteenth century as, for example. in the abbeys of Cluny and Vézelay. With the full development of Gothic it disappeared, its place being taken by the three great western porches or doorways. Properly speaking, the name should have ceased with the function and the so-called narthex of medieval churches and abbeys should justly be called a porch. For the same reason there is no excuse for the recent revival of the word as a designation either of an exterior porch, or an interior vestibule.

References

Back to citation Kherbawi, Basil M. (1930). The Old Church in the New World: Or, The Mother Church, Being a Plain Exposition and Vindication of the True Church Founded and Headed by Our Lord Jesus Christ, Her Doctrine, Her Sacraments, Etc. St. Nicolas' Greek-Orthodox Cathoic Cathedral. “As to the other divisions of the church we have the Narthex. The principal entrance to the church is from the Western end; as you enter the church you are in the Narthex—below the Nave.... From the Narthex one or three doors lead to the majestic Nave of the church adorned with lofty pillars. It is called Nave from the symbolical significance of a ship as a figure of our salvation.”
Back to citation Webber, F.R. (1924). The American Lutheran Volumes 7-8. American Lutheran Publicity Bureau. “The Plan of the Church. The plan of the church is simple and straightforward. Its interior width is slightly less than 30 feet. Redeemer Church was content to sacrifice a wide, swaggering and end-elevation for the sake of good proprotions. The length of the church within, including the narthex, is 61 feet.”
Back to citation 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.
Back to citation 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
Back to citation "narthex". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 23 April 2012.
Back to citation "Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon, νάρθηξ". www.perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 8 September 2025.
Back to citation William George Clark Peloponnesus: notes of study and travel 1858 Page 110 "One of the most perplexing words in etymology and application is the word narthex. In modern times it can be applied to the porch outside the church at the west end; in old days it was given to a part of the church itself,..."
Back to citation The national encyclopædia. ed. John H F. Brabner – 1884 "This space was the narthex or " scourge," and was for the use of penitents. The name was also extended to the outer court "

External links

Media related to Narthexes at Wikimedia Commons

[1] Back to citation Kherbawi, Basil M. (1930). The Old Church in the New World: Or, The Mother Church, Being a Plain Exposition and Vindication of the True Church Founded and Headed by Our Lord Jesus Christ, Her Doctrine, Her Sacraments, Etc. St. Nicolas' Greek-Orthodox Cathoic Cathedral. “As to the other divisions of the church we have the Narthex. The principal entrance to the church is from the Western end; as you enter the church you are in the Narthex—below the Nave.... From the Narthex one or three doors lead to the majestic Nave of the church adorned with lofty pillars. It is called Nave from the symbolical significance of a ship as a figure of our salvation.”

[2] Back to citation Webber, F.R. (1924). The American Lutheran Volumes 7-8. American Lutheran Publicity Bureau. “The Plan of the Church. The plan of the church is simple and straightforward. Its interior width is slightly less than 30 feet. Redeemer Church was content to sacrifice a wide, swaggering and end-elevation for the sake of good proprotions. The length of the church within, including the narthex, is 61 feet.”

[3] Back to citation 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.

[4] Back to citation 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

[5] Back to citation "narthex". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 23 April 2012.

[6] Back to citation "Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon, νάρθηξ". www.perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 8 September 2025.

[7] Back to citation William George Clark Peloponnesus: notes of study and travel 1858 Page 110 "One of the most perplexing words in etymology and application is the word narthex. In modern times it can be applied to the porch outside the church at the west end; in old days it was given to a part of the church itself,..."

[8] Back to citation The national encyclopædia. ed. John H F. Brabner – 1884 "This space was the narthex or " scourge," and was for the use of penitents. The name was also extended to the outer court "

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