Alcove

For the community in Quebec, Canada, see Alcove, Quebec.

Drawing of an alcove.

Alcove in sandstone, near Moab, Utah.

Alcove (pron.: /ælˈkoʊv/ or /ˈælkoʊv/; through Spanish: alcoba [alˈkoβa], from Arabic: القبة‎, meaning al-qubbah, "the vault") is an architectural term for a recess in a room, usually screened off by pillars, balustrades or drapery.

In geography and geology, the term Alcove is used for a wind-eroded depression in the side of a cliff of a homogenous rock type, famous from sandstones of the Colorado Plateau like the Navajo Sandstone.

See also

• Tokonoma

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.