Khmer temples were typically enclosed by a concentric series of walls, with the central sanctuary in the middle ; this arrangement represented the mountain ranges surrounding Mount Meru, the mythical home of the gods.

Historically, the form of the gallery evolved during the 10th century from the increasingly long hallways which had earlier been used to surround the central sanctuary of a temple.

A common architecture for churches is the shape of a cross ( a long central rectangle, with side rectangles, and a rectangle in front for the altar space or sanctuary ).

Both of these factors favor rebels, as a population dispersed outward toward the borders is harder to control than one concentrated in a central region, while mountains offer terrain where rebels can seek sanctuary.

Hence, Mediolanum could signify the central town or sanctuary of a particular Celtic tribe.

" Trinity ", according to tradition, refers to the easternmost sanctuary of Holy Trinity, while the central sanctuary of the church is dedicated to Intercession of Mary.

Image: MeijiShrine2. jpg | The central sanctuary where the Meiji emperor is enshrined

They excavated the central part of the sanctuary including the Temple of Zeus, Temple of Hera, Metroon, Bouleuterion, Philipeion, Echo Stoa, Treasuries and Palaestra.

At the time of the temple's foundation, the principal religious image was a statue of the Buddha, 3. 6 m tall, located in the sanctuary at the heart of the central tower.

Five rectangular enclosing walls surround a central sanctuary.

The three inner enclosures of the temple proper are galleried, while the corner towers of the first enclosure form a quincunx with the tower of the central sanctuary.

The inner enclosures contain library building to its north and south and also a central sanctuary.

Thommanon is a single-towered temple with an east-facing central sanctuary, crowned by a prasat, or tower.

Access from the east is via a gopura, followed by a mandapa, or antechamber, before arriving at the central sanctuary.

The walls of this gallery, and the interior of the central sanctuary, are covered with holes for the fixing of bronze plates which would originally have covered them and the outside of the sanctuary — 1500 tonnes was used to decorate the whole temple.

The inner section of the temple consists of a central cruciform sanctuary with porches at each arm surrounded by four corner pavilions.

The sanctuary is entered from the east by a doorway only 1. 08 m in height: inside is an entrance chamber ( or maṇḍapa ) with a corbelled brick roof, then a short corridor leading to three towers to the west: the central tower is the tallest, at 9. 8 m. Glaize notes the impression of delicacy given the towers by the antefixes on each of their tiers.

About a hundred years later ( c. 200 ), the central room of the domus was remodelled for use as part of a mithraeum, that is, as part of a sanctuary of the cult of Mithras.

Three doors, a large central one and two smaller flanking ones, lead into the sanctuary.

The church was further extended, with its polygonal sanctuary with central window high being added in 1873.

The red brick building has five distinct sections ( narthex, sanctuary, office wing, fellowship hall, and chapel ) built around a central courtyard.

In the Eastern Orthodox Church the iconostasis is normally a flat wall or screen with three doors through it, the central Holy Doors used only for very solemn entrances, and the two side doors, by which the clergy and others enter and leave the sanctuary.

Typically, a lingam served as the central religious image of the Angkorian temple-mountain.

Suryavarman II ( 1113-1150 ), one of the greatest Angkorian monarchs, expanded his kingdom's territory in a series of successful wars against the kingdom of Champa in central Vietnam and the small Mon polities as far west as the Irrawaddy River of Burma.

It was hit by a shell fired by the bombarding Venetian army and the great central portion of the temple was blown to smithereens.

In Southern Iraq each city had a patron god, worshipped in a massive central temple called a ziggurat, and was ruled by a priest-king ( ishakku ).

A walled marble-paved precinct was constructed around the temple, making it a central focus of the ancient city.

They are believed to have played a central role in the mound-building peoples ' religious life and documented uses include semi-public chief's house platforms, public temple platforms, mortuary platforms, charnel house platforms, earth lodge / town house platforms, residence platforms, square ground and rotunda platforms, and dance platforms.

After the completion of the temple, Solomon is described as erecting many other buildings of importance in Jerusalem ; for the long period of 13 years he was engaged in the building of a royal palace on Ophel ( a hilly promontory in central Jerusalem ); Solomon also constructed great works for the purpose of securing a plentiful supply of water for the city, and the Millo ( Septuagint, Acra ) for the defense of the city.

Tenochtilan's main temple complex, the Templo Mayor, was dismantled and the central district of the Spanish colonial city's was constructed on top of it.

Small-scale models of nuraghe have often been excavated at religious sites ( e. g. in the " maze " temple at the Su Romanzesu site near Bitti in central Sardinia ).

" An early form of the temple is the hearth house ; the early temples at Dreros and Prinias on Crete are of this type as indeed is the temple of Apollo at Delphi which always had its inner hestia " The Mycenaean great hall, such as the hall of Odysseus at Ithaca was a megaron, with a central hearth fire.

b ) According to the Bibliotheca Epitome and Proclus in " Ilion's Conquest ", Menelaus raised his sword in front of the temple of Minerva in the central square of Troy to kill her but his wrath went away when he saw her tearing her clothes to reveal her breasts.

Additionally some Breakaway Catholic Churches such as the Mariavite Church in Poland have chosen to also designate their central church building as a temple, as in the case of the Temple of Mercy and Charity in Płock.

It took 88 years to rebuild the city ; its central feature was the temple of Marduk ( Esagila ), with which the Etemenanki ziggurat was associated.

The plan consists of a central hexagon with, at each vertex, columns taken from the temple of Isis ; these are connected by arches which support the cupola.

Postumius ' vow was fulfilled in 493 BC: Ceres became the central deity of the new Triad, housed in a new-built Aventine temple.

Temples of the Uruk Period divided the temple rectangle into tripartite, T-shaped, or combined plans The tripartite plan inherited from the Ubaid had a large central hall with two smaller flanking halls on either side.

Both of these temples were rectangles with their corners aligned to the cardinal directions, a central hall flanked along the long axis flanked by two smaller halls, and buttressed façades ; the prototype of all future Mesopotamian temple architectural typology.

The temple complex at Lydney Park, situated on a steep bluff overlooking the Severn Estuary, is rectangular, measuring 72m by 54m ( 80 ' by 60 '), with a central cella measuring 29m by 49. 5m ( 32½ ' by 55 '), and its north-western end is divided into three chambers 6. 3m deep.

In accordance with this cosmic symbolism, Yasovarman built his central temple on a low hill known as Phnom Bakheng, surrounding it with a moat fed from the baray.

Similarly, Rajendravarman, whose reign began in 944 AD, constructed the temple of Pre Rup, the central tower of which housed the royal lingam called Rajendrabhadresvara.

During the restoration, the Bayon was made a temple to Shiva, and its central 3. 6 meter tall statue of the Buddha was cast to the bottom of a nearby well.

The temple was located directly between the temples to the important K ' iche ' deities Tohil and Awilix, slightly north of the central axis of the temple of Tohil and slightly south of the axis of the temple of Awilix, replicating the role of Q ' uq ' umatz as mediator between the two deities.