dome

Other Definitions
dome (dict)

A dome is a common structural element of architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a sphere. Domes do not have to be perfectly spherical in cross-section, however; it is sufficient that they simply be curved surfaces. A saucer dome is a dome section of large radius that caps a space with a low dome. A variant is the Onion dome that resembles more than half of a sphere, exemplified by Saint Basil's Cathedral in Moscow. The concave triangular sections of vaulting that provides the transition between a dome and the square base on which it is set and transfer the weight of the dome are called pendentives. A less sophisticated version of a pendentive is a squinch.. A dome can be considered as an arch which has been rotated around its vertical axis. As such, domes have a great deal of structural strength. They can be constructed of ordinary masonry, held together by friction and compressive forces. A half-dome forms the head of an exedra or its smaller version, a niche. In Late Antiquity, the exedra developed into the apse, with separate developments in Romanesque and Byzantine practice.

Famous domes

Listed in order of their completion:

The Pantheon in Rome;

The domes and half-domes of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople;

The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem;

Filippo Brunelleschi's dome of the Duomo in Florence;

Bramante's dome of the "Tempietto" in Rome;

The dome of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome;

The Blue Mosque in Istanbul;

The Taj Mahal in Agra;

The dome of Les Invalides in Paris;

Wren's dome of St Paul's Cathedral in London;

James Gibb's dome at the Radcliffe Camera in Oxford;

The steel-framed United States Capitol dome, Washington, DC;

The Millennium Dome in London.

Dome

Famous domes

See also