Pendentive

A curved triangular surface that transitions from the corners of a square bay to the circular base of a dome, transferring its weight to four supporting arches.

Squinch: An arch or niche built across a corner to support a dome or an upper structure. It solves the same square-to-dome problem with a different structural form.
Byzantine architecture: The architecture of the Byzantine Empire, known for domed churches, mosaics, and centralized plans. Byzantine builders developed and widely used pendentives for domed interiors.
Spherical geometry: The geometry of figures and distances on the surface of a sphere. A pendentive’s curved surface is shaped as part of a sphere.
Centralized church: A church organized around a central space rather than a long dominant axis. Pendentives make a dome over a central square space structurally feasible.
Dome: A roof formed as a hollow, usually rounded structure spanning a space. Its circular base rests on the pendentives above a square bay.
Hagia Sophia: A sixth-century church in Constantinople, now Istanbul, famous for its vast central dome. Its central dome rests on pendentives above four massive piers.
Square: A quadrilateral with four equal sides and four right angles. The pendentive begins at the corners of a square bay.
Ottoman architecture: The architecture of the Ottoman Empire, known for monumental mosques and large domed spaces. Ottoman architects adapted Byzantine pendentive construction for mosque domes.
Arch: A curved structure that spans an opening and carries loads through compression to its supports. Four arches frame the bay and receive the pendentives’ loads.
Church of the Holy Apostles: A major Byzantine church in Constantinople, traditionally associated with a five-dome plan. Its domed design helped establish the Byzantine use of pendentives.

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