#altar

• Apse — A semicircular or polygonal vaulted niche or room, usually located at the rear of a Christian church or ancient basilica, extending the main nave and housing the altar. In the philosophy of religion and the anthropology of the sacred, the apse is not merely a geometric form, but symbolically represents 'heaven' or the transcendent dimension, an architectural core where dogmatic values and absolute moral principles are revealed to the community.
• Abyla — The classical name, of Phoenician origin, attributed in Greco-Roman antiquity to the mountainous promontory in North Africa (identified today with Mount Hacho or Jebel Musa near the enclave of Ceuta). Together with Mount Calpe (Gibraltar) on the opposite, European shore, it formed the legendary assembly known as the 'Pillars of Hercules', marking the ultimate limit of the known and navigable world in ancient collective thought.
• Algeciras — A major city and seaport in southern Spain, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, located on the Bay of Gibraltar. It stands as one of the largest transshipment ports in Europe and the Mediterranean basin, acting as a strategic maritime hub connecting the Atlantic and Mediterranean routes. Historically founded by the Moors, its name derives from Arabic.
• altar — The most important and sacred part of a place of worship, usually located in the eastern section of Christian churches, separated from the nave by the iconostasis, where the priest celebrates the liturgy and performs religious sacraments; alternatively, an elevated stone or wooden table or structure in antiquity or various religions upon which sacrifices or ritual offerings were made to a deity.
• Small altar — Diminutive form, often regional or archaic, for the word 'altar'; designates a small-sized altar, a small sacred table set up in domestic spaces, private chapels, or decorative artistic representations intended for prayer or intimate rituals.
• altari — An archaic or regional plural form, or a popular phonetically altered variant used in the past within certain rural zones or communities to represent altars; alternatively, it can represent an erroneous masculinized variation of the neuter noun 'altar' encountered in ancient ecclesiastical manuscripts.
• altariu — An archaic or regional singular form, or an obsolete phonetic variant used in the past within certain zones (specifically in Transylvania and old ecclesiastical texts) to represent altar; a sacred table or structure erected within a place of worship for celebrating religious rituals.
• Analoghion — A tall, narrow lectern, usually made of carved wood, with a slanted top, used in Orthodox churches to support liturgical books (the Gospel, the Epistle, the Psalter) or feast icons during religious services. It is placed in the nave, in front of the altar, or at the cantor's stand, serving as an essential structural support for priests and cantors during liturgical rituals.
• Antependium — A piece of furniture or a movable decorative textile, made of fine cloth, precious embroidery, carved wood, or noble metal, used to cover and adorn the front face of a Christian altar. This liturgical element serves both a profound aesthetic role, reflecting the specific iconography and colors of the liturgical season, and a symbolic meaning of protection and sanctification of the sacred space where the eucharist is celebrated.
• Antimension — A rectangular linen or silk cloth printed with the scene of the entombment of Jesus Christ and containing sewn-in particles of holy relics, consecrated by a bishop and absolutely mandatory for celebrating the Divine Liturgy in Orthodox churches. In a structural and liturgical sense, it represents the delegation of direct hierarchical authority granted by the bishop to the serving priest to perform the sacraments.
• Antimension variant — A regional variant, popular inflectional form, or nominal feminine alteration of the noun antimis, used in certain historical communities to designate the same consecrated liturgical cloth required for serving at the altar; structurally, it retains the same symbolic and canonical functionality within religious worship.
• Apse — A monumental semicircular, polygonal, or rectangular recess, vaulted in the shape of a semi-dome, located behind the nave of a Christian church or at the back of an ancient Roman basilica, housing the imperial throne or the liturgical altar. In astronomy, it designates either of the two extreme points (closest or farthest) of the elliptical orbit traveled by a celestial body.
• Burnt offering — An ancient ritual sacrifice, specifically found in the old Jewish tradition (Old Testament) and other early religious cults, consisting of the complete and structural destruction by fire of a sacrificed animal on the altar, as an offering brought to the divinity; holocaust. The term expresses the believer's total renunciation in favor of the sacred, as the meat is not consumed by humans.
• Ardicare — A regional, archaic form or phonetic variant of the noun 'ridicare' (lifting/raising); the act of lifting, raising, or elevating an object or structure and its result. Its structural meaning stems from vocalic prosthesis phenomena specific to certain old Romanian dialects, occasionally encountered in medieval chancellery documents or Transylvanian folk texts.
• To consecrate liturgically — An archaic or regional liturgical term meaning to sanctify, to consecrate, or to prepare the sacred bread (prosphora) during the proscomidia ritual; to dedicate or set aside church gifts. In ancient monastic communities, the word described the mystical and canonical action of ritually cleansing elements brought as offerings to the altar.
• Consecrator — A person who sanctifies, blesses, or prepares the prosphora and ritual gifts during religious services; relating to the act of liturgical consecration of bread. In ancient church communities, the term indicated the priest or monk designated to perform the proscomidia ritual at the altar.
• Consecrator — An old phonetic or regional variant for the term 'artirisitor', designating the person or priest who sanctifies, blesses, or prepares the prosphora and gifts at the altar during Orthodox services; relating to the act of consecrating ritual bread. In ancient monastic communities, the word indicated the monk appointed to perform the proscomidia rite at the prothesis table.
• Tabernacle — A small box or tabernacle made of precious metal (silver or gold), permanently placed upon the Holy Table inside the altar, in which the Holy Communion (consecrated bread and wine) reserved for the sick or emergencies is kept; a liturgical tabernacle. In Orthodox church architecture and ritual, this object possesses maximum sacred value.
• Artophorion — A direct scholarly designation from Greek for the tabernacle or sacred box in which the Holy Communion is reserved upon the Holy Table inside the altar; a terminological variant for artofor. In Byzantine and church history studies, the term defines metal structures or architectural miniatures designed to house the Holy Sacrament.
• Artophorion — A phonetically adapted form in the Romanian language for the term 'artoforion', designating the tabernacle placed upon the Holy Table inside the altar for reserving the Holy Communion; a precious metal liturgical box. In old monastery inventories, the word recorded the presence of the sacred chest used for emergencies regarding the sick.