Barrel+Vaulting

A **barrel vault**, also known as a **tunnel vault** or a **wagon vault**, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves, in the case of a pointed barrel vault) along a given distance. The curves are typically circular in shape, lending a semi-cylindrical appearance to the total design. The barrel vault is the simplest form of a [|vault]: effectively a series of [|arches] placed side by side, i.e., one after another. It is a form of [|barrel roof]. As with all arch-based constructions, there is an outward thrust generated against the walls underneath a barrel vault. There are several mechanisms for absorbing this thrust. One is, of course, to make the walls exceedingly thick and strong - this is a primitive and sometimes unacceptable method. A more elegant method is to build two or more vaults parallel to each other; the forces of their outward thrusts will thus negate each other. This method was most often used in construction of churches, where several vaulted [|naves] ran parallel down the length of the building. However, the outer walls of the outermost vault would still have to be quite strong or reinforced by [|buttressing]. The third and most elegant mechanism to resist the lateral thrust was to create an intersection of two barrel vaults at right angles, thus forming a [|groin vault].

Barrel vaults are known from [|Ancient Egypt], and were used extensively in [|Roman architecture]. They were also used to replace the [|Cloaca Maxima] with a system of underground sewers. Early barrel vault designs occur in northern [|Europe], [|Turkey], [|Morocco] and other regions. In [|medieval] [|Europe] the barrel vault was an important element of stone construction in [|monasteries], [|castles], [|tower houses] and other structures. This form of design is observed in [|cellars], [|crypts], long [|hallways], [|cloisters] and even [|great halls].

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