In architecture, what is the space around the altar at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building?
Chancel Chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. It is generally the area used by the clergy and choir during worship, while the congregation is in the nave. Direct access may be provided by a priest's door, usually on the south side of the church. This is one definition, sometimes called the "strict" one; in practice in churches where the eastern end contains other elements such as an ambulatory
Altar in the Catholic Church Rome only in the 8th or 9th century. In the succeeding centuries the eastward position in prayer was abandoned, as to a large extent was also, especially in cities, choice of an east-west axis for church buildings, and the end, furthest from the main door, in which the altar stood, could be oriented towards any point of the compass, although by convention churches are always described as though the altar is at the east end, the terms liturgical east and west often being used. On this see also Orientation of churches. The churches that Christians built after the legalization of