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A Latin cross or ''crux immissa'' is a type of
In a broad sense, the Latin cross is used to represent all of
A Latin cross plan is a
A Latin cross or ''crux immissa'' is a type of cross
A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...
in which the vertical
Vertical is a geometric term of location which may refer to:
* Vertical direction, the direction aligned with the direction of the force of gravity, up or down
* Vertical (angles), a pair of angles opposite each other, formed by two intersecting s ...
beam sticks above the crossbeam
A beam is a structural element that primarily resists loads applied laterally to the beam's axis (an element designed to carry primarily axial load would be a strut or column). Its mode of deflection is primarily by bending. The loads applied to ...
, with the three upper arms either equally long or with the vertical topmost arm shorter than the two horizontal arms, and always with a much longer bottom arm.
If displayed upside down it is called St. Peter's Cross, because he was reputedly executed
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
on this type of cross.Joyce Mori, ''Crosses of Many Cultures'' (Harrisburg, PA: Morehouse Publishing, 1998), p. 32 When displayed sideways it is called St. Philip's cross for the same reason.
History
In a broad sense, the Latin cross is used to represent all of Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
and Christendom, given that it teaches that Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...
sacrificed himself for humanity upon it, atoning for the sins of the world. It is especially used among the denominations of Western Christianity
Western Christianity is one of two sub-divisions of Christianity ( Eastern Christianity being the other). Western Christianity is composed of the Latin Church and Western Protestantism, together with their offshoots such as the Old Catholic ...
, including the Roman Catholic tradition and several Protestant traditions, such as Lutheranism, Moravianism, Anglicanism, Methodism, and Reformed Christianity, as well as by Anabaptists, Baptists, and Pentecostals. In certain periods, such as during the 16th century English Reformation of the Anglican Church, the Latin cross was disfavored by a minority of theologians such as Nicholas Ridley, though in the overall history of the Western Christian Churches, this was short-lived.
Cruciform churches
A Latin cross plan is a floor plan
In architecture and building engineering, a floor plan is a technical drawing to scale, showing a view from above, of the relationships between rooms, spaces, traffic patterns, and other physical features at one level of a structure.
Dimensio ...
found in many Christian churches and cathedrals.''St. Peter's in the Vatican'', ed. William Tronzo (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), p. 275 When looked at from above or in plan view
In technical drawing and computer graphics, a multiview projection is a technique of illustration by which a standardized series of orthographic projection, orthographic two-dimensional pictures are constructed to represent the form of a three-di ...
it takes the shape of a Latin cross (''crux immissa'').Lilian H. Zirpolo, ''Historical Dictionary of Baroque Art and Architecture'' (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2010), p. 314 Such cruciform churches were very common in the West during the Romanesque period. The Latin cross plans have a nave with aisles or chapels, or both, and a transept
A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building wi ...
that forms the arms of the cross. It also has at least one apse that traditionally faces east
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...
. Many also have a narthex at the entry.
In computer systems
The glyph has aunicode
Unicode, formally The Unicode Standard,The formal version reference is is an information technology standard for the consistent encoding, representation, and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems. The standard, wh ...
code point
In character encoding terminology, a code point, codepoint or code position is a numerical value that maps to a specific character. Code points usually represent a single grapheme—usually a letter, digit, punctuation mark, or whitespace—but ...
:
Similar marks
* * *See also
* Christian symbolism * Christian cross *Greek cross
The Christian cross, with or without a figure of Christ included, is the main religious symbol of Christianity. A cross with a figure of Christ affixed to it is termed a ''crucifix'' and the figure is often referred to as the ''corpus'' (La ...
References
Christian crosses Latin Church {{christianity-stub