Cupola

For other uses, see Cupola (disambiguation).

Cupolas on the towers of Montefiascone Cathedral, Italy.

In architecture, a cupola (pron.: /ˈkjuːpələ/) is a small, most-often dome-like, structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome.

The word derives, via Italian, from the lower Latin cupula (classical Latin cupella from the Greek κύπελλον kupellon) small cup (Latin cupa) indicating a vault resembling an upside down cup.

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  Interior of cupola ceiling in the old Synagogue of Gyor, Hungary.

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  Ribbed cupola crowns the minaret of the Mosque of Uqba, in Kairouan, Tunisia.

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  Inside of Armenian Orthodox church cupola in Lvov, Ukraine.

Cupolas often appear as small buildings in their own right. They often serve as a lantern, belfry, or belvedere above a main roof. In other cases they may crown a tower, spire, or turret. The chhatri, seen in Indian architecture, fits the definition of a cupola when it is used atop a larger structure.

The cupola is a development during the Renaissance of the oculus, an ancient device found in Roman architecture, but being weatherproof was superior for the wetter climates of northern Europe.

The square dome-like segment of a North American railroad train caboose is also called a cupola.

See also

• Daylighting
• Roof lantern
• Chhatri
• Oculus