Crypt
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2008-06-25T08:45:39Z
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{{this|the stone chambers called "crypts"|Crypt (disambiguation)}}
[[Image:Bayeux-crypte1.JPG|200px|thumb|Crypt of Bayeux, France]]
[[Image:Crypte de St Sernin Toulouse.jpg|thumb|right|200 px|Crypt [[Saint-Sernin Basilica]] [[Toulouse]]]]
In terms of medieval European architecture, a '''crypt''' (from the [[Latin]] ''crypta'' and the [[Greek language|Greek]] ''κρυπτη'', '''kryptē''') is a stone chamber or vault beneath the floor of a church usually used as a [[chapel]] or [[burial vault (tomb)|burial vault]] possibly containing [[sarcophagus|sarcophagi]], [[coffin]]s or [[relic]]s of important persons such as [[saint]]s or high ranking church officials.
The crypt evolved in [[Old St. Peter's Basilica]], Rome, about the year 600, as a means of affording [[pilgrim]]s a view of [[Saint Peter]]'s tomb, which lay, according to the Roman fashion, directly below the [[high altar]]. The tomb was made accessible through an underground passageway beneath the [[sanctuary]], where pilgrims could enter at one stair, pass by the tomb and exit, without interrupting the clerical community's service at the altar directly above.<ref>Apollonj Ghetti, ''et al.'' eds. ''Esplorazioni sotto la confessione di San Pietro. Eseguite negli anni 1940-1949'' (Città del Vaticano, 1951) 1:173-93, noted in Werner Jacobsen, "Saints' Tombs in Frankish Church Architecture" ''Speculum'' '''72'''.4 (October 1997:1107-1143) p. 1134 note 70.</ref> The crypt was introduced into Frankish church building in the mid-eighth century, as a feature of the Romanization of the Frankish church.
Where Christian churches have been built over [[Mithraeum|mithraea]], the mithraeum has often been adapted to serve as a crypt.
==Description==
Churches were occasionally raised above ground level to accommodate a crypt at the ground level, such as [[St. Michael's Church, Hildesheim|St. Michael's Church]] in [[Hildesheim]], Germany. Crypts are typically found below the [[apse]] such as at [[Abbey of Saint-Germain en Auxerre|Saint-Germain en Auxerre]], but occasionally found beneath church wings and [[nave]]s. First known in the early Christian period, in particular North Africa at [[Ech-Cheliff|Orleansville]] and [[Djemila]] in [[Algeria]], and [[Byzantium]] at [[Saint John Studio]] in [[Constantinople]], crypts were first used and spread widely in western Europe under [[Charlemagne]], they are most common in the early medieval West, for example in [[Burgundy]] at [[Dijon]] and [[Tournus]]. After the 10th century the need for crypts faded, when Church officials permitted relics to be held in the main level of the church. By the [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]] period crypts were rarely built.
==Burial vaults==
:''Main article: [[Burial vault (tomb)]]''.
In more modern terms, a crypt is most often a stone chambered [[burial vault (tomb)|burial vault]] used to store the deceased. Crypts are usually found in [[cemetery|cemeteries]] and under public religious buildings, such as [[church]]es or [[cathedral]]s, but are also occasionally found beneath [[mausoleum|mausolea]] or [[chapel]]s on personal estates. Wealthy or prestigious families will often have a 'family crypt' or 'vault' in which all members of the family are stored. Many [[royal family|royal families]], for example, have vast crypts containing the bodies of dozens of former royals. In some localities an above ground crypt is more commonly called a [[mausoleum]], which also refers to any elaborate building intended as a burial place, for one or any number of people.
There was also a trend in the 1800s of building crypts into medium to large size family estates, usually subtly placed on the edge of the grounds or more commonly incorporated into the cellar. After a change of owner these are often blocked up and the house deeds will not allow this area to be re-developed.
==Notes==
{{reflist}}
<gallery>
Image:Bones in St. Eusebius church, Arnehm.JPG|Inside the crypt of [[St. Eusebius church, Arnhem]]
Image:Victorian_house.jpg|1800s house today
Image:Cellar_crypt.jpg|The crypt has been bricked up
</gallery>
==Examples==
*[[Lund Cathedral]], Sweden
*[[Muchalls Castle]], Scotland
==See also==
{{commonscat|crypts}}
*[[Catacomb]]
*[[Grave (burial)|Grave]]
*[[Mausoleum]]
*[[Ossuary]]
*[[Reliquary]]
*[[Tomb]]
[[Category:Burial monuments and structures]]
[[af:Kripte]]
[[bg:Крипта]]
[[ca:Cripta]]
[[cs:Krypta]]
[[da:Krypt]]
[[de:Krypta]]
[[et:Krüpt]]
[[es:Cripta]]
[[eo:Kripto (arkitekturo)]]
[[fr:Crypte]]
[[it:Cripta]]
[[he:קריפטה]]
[[lv:Kripta]]
[[lb:Krypta]]
[[lt:Kripta]]
[[nl:Crypte]]
[[ja:地下聖堂]]
[[no:Krypt]]
[[pl:Krypta]]
[[pt:Cripta]]
[[ru:Крипта]]
[[sk:Krypta]]
[[fi:Krypta]]
[[sv:Krypta]]
[[zh:地下墓室]]