Elements and Materials

Pendentive

pen-DEN-tiv

Structural Element

Citation Formats

General Reference

Architecture and Design Atlas. "Pendentive." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://dev-architecture.interactiveatlas.org/elements/pendentive.

APA Style

Architecture and Design Atlas. (n.d.). Pendentive. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://dev-architecture.interactiveatlas.org/elements/pendentive

BibTeX

@misc{architectureanddesignatlas-pendentive,
  author = {Architecture and Design Atlas},
  title = {Pendentive},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://dev-architecture.interactiveatlas.org/elements/pendentive},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

The curved spherical triangle that makes the transition from a square room to a round dome, carrying the dome's rim down to four corner piers. Perfected at Hagia Sophia in the sixth century, it is the device that let Byzantine, Islamic and Renaissance builders set great domes over usable square spaces rather than round drums.

Facts

Element Kind

Structural element 1

First Used Era

Late Roman and Byzantine; perfected at Hagia Sophia 1

Cross-Tradition Connections

Seen In

Hagia Sophia

The building in which the pendentive was perfected.

Source Encyclopedia Britannica

Sources

1. Encyclopedia Britannica

Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc.View the Source

Sir Banister Fletcher's A History of Architecture

Banister Fletcher, edited by Dan Cruickshank (20th edition), Architectural Press, 1996Byzantine architecture

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