Nave

   The central space of a church, running from the entrance to the choir, where the faithful congregate to hear the mass. It is called a nave as the church at times is likened to the ship that symbolically will transport the faithful from this life to the next. It is usually flanked by aisles and separated from them by the nave arcade. The nave elevation in Gothic churches usually includes the arcade, triforium, and clerestory, granting a delicate skeletal appearance. In Italy, the nave elevations are usually only two stories high, with arcade and clerestory, and feature lesser piercings. This type of construction is better suited for the hot and humid climate of the region. The continuous walls above the nave arcades in these churches provide a surface for fresco or mosaic decorations, normally absent in French Gothic prototypes. In some of the longitudinal churches built during the Counter-Reformation, among them Il Gesù in Rome (1568-1584), the nave was widened and the side aisles eliminated to avoid the visual interruptions created by the arcade and to place all focus on the main altar during the rituals of the mass.