Flèche (architecture)
A flèche (French: [flɛʃ]; French for 'arrow')[3] is the name given to spires in Gothic architecture. In French, the word is applied to any spire, but in English it has the technical meaning of a spirelet or spike on the rooftop of a building.[4][5] In particular, the spirelets often built atop the crossings of major churches in mediaeval French Gothic architecture are called flèches.[5]
On the ridge of the roof on top of the crossing (the intersection of the nave and the transepts) of a church, flèches were typically light, delicate, timber-framed constructions with a metallic sheath of lead or copper.[6] They are often richly decorated with architectural and sculptural embellishments: tracery, crockets, and miniature buttresses serve to adorn the flèche.[6]
Flèches are often very tall: the
The highest flèche in the world was built at the end of the 19th century for Rouen Cathedral, 157 metres (515 ft) high in total.[7]
A short spire or flèche surrounded by a parapet is common on churches in Hertfordshire; as a result, this type of flèche is called a Hertfordshire spike.[8]
See also
Notes
- ISBN 978-0-19-967498-5, retrieved 2020-05-27
- ISBN 978-0-19-967498-5, retrieved 2020-05-27
- CollinsDictionary.com. HarperCollins. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
- ISBN 978-0-19-967498-5. Retrieved 2020-05-27.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-967498-5, retrieved 2020-05-27
- ^ a b c "Flèche | architecture". Britannica. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
- ISSN 1989-5313.
- ISBN 978-0-19-967498-5, retrieved 2020-05-27
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