Basilica, (Stoa basilike, or basileios) building type with a clearstoreyed nave, two or more lower lean-to aisles on each side of the nave with a high central space delimited by colonnades and illuminated by clerestory lighting  and an apse at the end of the nave, originaly for public functions, but later adapted  for Christian worship. Larger examples may have first floor galleries and some had semicircular apses.

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