Is there any special term for the center aisle of a church?

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atheistgirl said:
Nave :confused:

Sarah x 🙂
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I think the nave is the area where all of the pews are located. As a Protestant I called the whole inside of the church the sanctuary. All new terms here.

I’ve never heard the center aisle called anything other than the center aisle.
 
The nave is the entire area where the pews are located. The aisle is technically called the* pace* or alley.
 
I have only ever heard, “the center aisle”.

This would probably be a fun trivia question to ask a priest when he is saying hello to everyone after Mass. I bet there was some “church vocabulary test” he took in seminary that included this if a proper term exists.
 
I doubt it has a specific name - in part because “aisles” aren’t all that traditional in terms of church architecture. Catholic churches used to be composed of open spaces - pews were only introduced after the Protestant Revolt in response to their extended sermons.

Nave is probably the best guess, but that doesn’t refer specifically to the aisle.

This Encyclopedia Britannica article discuses the nave and mentions that it can refer to the central aisle:
britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/406945/nave
 
It’s called the itinere, which is Latin for route or march, recalling Christ’s march to Calvary.

-Tim-
 
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