NARTEX. — From the Greek νάρθης, it denotes the internal space at the far end of the basilica, delimited by gates or doors called *speciosae*; it was occupied by catechumens and certain categories of penitents.
In Rome the narthex is found in S. Pudenziana, S. Sabina, S. Vitale, and S. Stefano on the Via Latina; in S. Clemente and in the cemetery basilicas of S. Petronilla, S. Lorenzo, and S. Agnese the separation was effected by means of columns and movable gates. In S. Sabina and in S. Maria Maggiore, Grisar identified two columns in the central nave that faced each other, with deep sockets—now partly blocked—in which the gates were set (P. Crostarosa, *Le basiliche cristiane*, Rome 1892). It is also found at Ravenna in S. Martino in caelo aureo (today S. Apollinare Nuovo) and in S. Apollinare in Classe.
At Constantinople in Greece the narthex is never open as it is in Rome; in Hagia Sophia there is a double internal narthex, with five doors toward the exterior and nine toward the interior; SS. Sergius and Bacchus had six doors toward the interior and four toward the exterior (Procopius, *De aedificiis*, V, 6). In Greece, in the basilicas of Eleusis and of the Theotokos at Pelion, where the atrium is lacking, the narthex is double (G. A. Soteriou, *Die altchristlichen Basiliken Griechenlands*, in Atti del IV Congresso intern. di archeol. crist., I, Vatican City 1940, pp. 376–80). In Romania, in the Byzantine basilica of Tropaeum, the narthex is tripartite (cf. D. Ciurea, *La basilica cristiana in Romania*, in ibid., I, p. 389 and pl. III). In Egypt the narthex is very widespread; it may be simple and rectangular, as in the church of Luxor, in the main basilica of Saqqara, and in the small one at Medinet Habu; whereas in the White Monastery and in the church of Dendera the narthex is also rectangular but terminates at each end with an apse on either side; in that of Old Cairo the apse is on the left (U. Monneret de Villard, *La basilica cristiana in Egitto*, ibid., p. 302 and figs. 17, 14, 10, 7, 9, 21). In Tripolitania, at Sabratha, the narthex is narrow and lies outside the Justinianic Basilica (P. Romanelli, *Le basiliche cristiane nell’Africa settentrionale*, in ibid., pp. 254–55, fig. 7); likewise it is external but deep and divided into three compartments at el-Assab (id., ibid., p. 270); it is instead internal in the church of the Old Forum at Leptis Magna (id., ibid., p. 264, fig. 13) and in the basilica of Ptolemais in Cyrenaica (id., ibid., pp. 282–83, figs. 28–29). The internal narthex appears in the group of basilicas of Asia Minor, such as those of the Madonna in Ephesus and in that of Resafa; in Syria in the ancient basilica of St. Simeon Stylites at Qal’at Sim’an. Enrico Josi
ART. — The narthex of the church on Mount Athos has a particular arrangement: in the most ancient type, which persists until the 16th century, it is preceded by a portico and flanked by two chapels; but in churches from the end of the 13th century and in most of those of the 16th century it consists of a large rectangular hall divided into bays by columns.
The use of the narthex continues sporadically into the Romanesque period (S. Marco in Venice); but it is increasingly replaced by the portico. It is, however, characteristic of Burgundian Romanesque architecture: in the more important churches it is surmounted by two square towers (Autun, Paray-le-Monial, Vézelay), and is often very spacious.
(from D. Ciurea, in Atti del IV° Congr. int. di archeologia cristiana, I, Vatican City 1938, tav. 3 after p. 385) Narthex — Plan of the basilica (5th century) of Tropaeum (Adamclisi) with narthex — Romania.
LITURGY. — After the suppression of the catechumenate and the evolution of penitential rites, the external narthex disappeared or was transformed, and the internal narthex remained, which has been and still is used for various liturgical purposes, at least in the Byzantine rite: the first part of the baptismal rites (the ancient rites of the catechumenate) are always performed there; the priest and clergy go there at the end of vespers on the vigil of Sunday and major feasts to perform the *liti* or supplication; finally, in monasteries the narthex is provided with seats because the monks generally recite the minor hours of the divine office there, namely the *mesonycticon*, the daytime hours, and the *apodipnon* (= compline).