Groin+vault

A **groin vault** or **groined vault** (also sometimes known as a **double barrel vault** or **cross vault**) is produced by the intersection at [|right angles] of two [|barrel vaults]. The word groin refers to the edge between the intersecting vaults; cf. [|ribbed vault]. Sometimes the [|arches] of groin vaults are pointed instead of round (see the image of the Gårdslösa Church below). In comparison with a [|barrel vault], a groin vault provides good economies of material and labour. The [|thrust] is concentrated along the groins or [|arrises] (the four diagonal edges formed along the points where the barrel vaults intersect), so the vault need only be [|abutted] at its four corners. Groin vault construction was first exploited by the [|Romans], but then fell into relative obscurity in Europe until the resurgence of quality stone building brought about by [|Carolingian] and [|Romanesque architecture]. It was superseded by the more flexible [|rib vaults] of [|Gothic architecture] in the later [|Middle Ages]. Difficult to construct neatly because of the geometry of the cross groins (usually elliptical in cross section), the groin vault required great skill in cutting stone to form a neat arris. This difficulty, in addition to the formwork required to create such constructions, led to the [|rib vault] superseding the groin vault as the preferred solution for enclosing space in Gothic architecture.

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