Damier (3D chessboard pattern ©)

The translation in the title is followed by this sign ©; this means that it has been "invented" by me.

Geometrical pattern of alternating recessed and protruding squares, ordered in a chessboard pattern, often used on corniches (cornices) and tailloirs (abacuses).
The right hand side chapiteau (capital) of the portail (portal) of the Saint-Barthélémy in Farges-lès-Mâcon has a damier pattern.

Saint-Barthélémy - Farges-lès-Mâcon

Déambulatoire (ambulatory)

A corridor running along the chœur (choir) which starts and ends at the bas-côtés (aisles).
The plan shows the ambulatory in grey.
The purpose of this corridor was to enable a procession to walk past the reliques (relics).
In the picture the ambulatory in the Notre-Dame-de-la-Nativité in Bois-Sainte-Marie, as seen from the choir.

Déambulatoire - Wikipedia

Notre-Dame-de-la-Nativité - Bois-Sainte-Marie

Demi-berceau (semi-barrel vault)

This type of vault has the same cross section across its entire length: a quarter circle.
These vaults are sometimes used to cover the bas-côtés (aisles) or the tribunes.
The picture shows one of the aisles in the Saint-Ferréol in Curgy.
See also voûte en demi-berceau (synonym).

demi-berceau - internet

Saint-Ferréol - Curgy

Demi-colonne (semicircular engaged column)

Semicircular colonne (column), engaged to a wall or pilier (pillar).
This demi-colonne can be found against one of the pillars of the Sacré-Cœur in Paray-le-Monial.
See also colonne engagée (synonym).

Sacré-Cœur - Paray-le-Monial

Dendrochronologie (dendrochronology)

A branch of science that specializes in dating wooden objects by analyzing the visible tree rings on that object.
The beam in the picture was placed in our shed approx. 150 years ago, but possibly the wood itself is a lot older than that.

La Tuilerie - Chazelle (Cormatin)

Dents d'engrenage (protruding saw teeth ©)

The translation in the title is followed by this sign ©; this means that it has been "invented" by me.

A row of stones protruding from a wall in such a way that the form suggests a row of saw teeth.
In the picture a corniche (cornice) of a chapelle (chapel) of the Saint-Philibert in Tournus.

Saint-Philibert - Tournus

Dents de scie (flat saw teeth ©)

The translation in the title is followed by this sign ©; this means that it has been "invented" by me.

A row of stones which have been placed in a wall to form a saw tooth pattern, but in the plane of the wall.
In the picture a decoration like that on the chevet of the Saint-Martin in Blanot.
The openings are sometimes really open, sometimes filled with mortar.

Saint-Martin - Blanot

Détrempe (tempera)

Détrempe is a painting technique that uses natural pigments mixed with egg yolk and water.
This technique was the predecessor of oil painting, and is still traditionally used in iconography.
On one of the walls in the Hospital of Saint-Thomas in Canterbury this détrempe wall painting of Christ en gloire can be found.
For a layman there is hardly any difference between a détrempe painting and a fresque (fresco), like the frescos in Berzé-la-Ville.
See also tempera (synonym).

Hospital of Saint-Thomas - Canterbury

Diocèse (diocese)

A diocese is a district run by an évêque (bishop).
The map (from the diocese's site) shows the diocese of Autun with its doyennées (deaneries).
See also évêché (synonym).

Diocèse - internet

Dôme (dome)

A dôme is an architectural element, consisting of half a sphere.
The concept of half a sphere should not be taken too literary; think of the onion shaped domes on Russian-orthodox churches.
A dome is normally crowning a tower or a building.
This is the clocher (bell tower) of the Sainte-Madeleine in Charnay-lès-Mâcon.

Sainte-Madeleine - Charnay-lès-Mâcon

Dortoir des convers (dormitory of the lay brothers)

Big dormatory on the first floor of the building of the convers or laïcs (lay brothers or sisters) of an abbaye (abbey), often divided in two by a row of piliers (pillars).
In the picture the remains of the building of the convers of Cluny abbey.

La Malgouverne - Cluny

Dortoir des moines (dormitory of the monks)

Big dormatory on the first floor of the building of the moines (monks) of an abbaye (abbey), where the monks were sleeping side by side.
In the picture the dormitory of the monks in the abbey of Fontenay.

L'Abbaye de Fontenay

Dosseret (birth ©)

The translation in the title is followed by this sign ©; this means that it has been "invented" by me.

The place where one or more arcs (arches) start.
In the picture it is the protruding step like ridge around the pilier (piller), which indicates the place where the pillar ends and the arches begin.
The picture was taken in the Sacré-Cœur in Paray-le-Monial.
See also imposte.

Sacré-Cœur - Paray-le-Monial

Double rouleau (double arch ©)

The translation in the title is followed by this sign ©; this means that it has been "invented" by me.

This is an arc (arch) consisting of two rows of stones placed above each other.
In the photograph the nef (nave) of the Saint-Philibert in Tournus.
See also arc à double rouleau (synonym).

Saint-Philibert - Tournus

Doubleau (belt arch ©)

The translation in the title is followed by this sign ©; this means that it has been "invented" by me.

In plan (Wikipedia) the belt arches are shown in green; the red area is part of a travée (bay).
A belt arch carries the roof construction of a church.
The picture shows several belt arches in the Saint-Martin in Chapaize.
The arc (arch) in the foreground is strictly speaking not a belt arch; it carries also part of the coupole (cupola) under the clocher (bell tower), and hence part of the clocher as well.
See also arc doubleau (synonym).

Doubleau - Wikipedia

Saint-Martin - Chapaize

Doyen (dean)

The person responsible for a doyenné (deanery).
The picture shows the dean of Eeklo (Belgium) delivering his New Year's speech.

Doyen - internet

Doyenné (deanery)

In the Roman Catholic Church a doyenné consists of a number of parishes; it is the organizational layer between the diocèse (diocese) and those parishes.
The head of a doyenné is a curé-doyen (dean).
Doyenné has also a second meaning: it is an agricultural unit providing an abbaye (abbey) or a prieuré (priory) with agricultural products. The person in charge is also called doyen (dean).
In the picture the tower and on the left the beginning of the defence walls; the building on the right is the logis (housing) of a doyenné in the second sense.
The doyenné was accessible via a drawbridge in front of the tower, and within the walls stood a chapelle (chapel).
It is de doyenné of Bezornay (Saint-Vincent-des-Prés).

Doyenné de Bezornay (Saint-Vincent-des-Prés)