Moldavian vault (original) (raw)

The Moldavian vault (Romanian: bolta moldovenească) is an architectural element of religious architecture used from the 15th to the 17th century in Moldavia. It is an arched suspension system on pendentives. It was mostly located above the naos or the main nave of the temple. The vault creates a transition from a square plane to a circular plane leading to a dome or tholobate tower. Consists of four diagonal arches over which pendentives transform square the circle. Four smaller segment arches in turn transform the circle into a square. Gradually they rise above the nave and crown the dome or tholobate tower. The vault allows a significant reduction in the diameter and weight of the tholobate, the dome and the tower itself.