Basilica

DEFINITION

In architecture, a type of public building erected in ancient Rome as a hall of justice and commerce. Basilicas had a rectangular plan with two or four rows of columns placed along the longer axis to support the roof, and an entrance on a long side. This plan was later adopted by the early Christian church builders. It incorporates a nave, aisles, and clerestory, with its main entrance at one end, and an apse at the other. These features make it an axial plan.(pr. bə-SI-lə-kə)Also see cathedral and labyrinth.