Tribune (architecture)

Tribune is an ambiguous often misused architectural term which can have several meanings.

The word stems from medieval Latin "tribuna", from classical Latin "tribunal", the elevated placing of a Tribune or other Roman magistrate's seat for official functions such as throne.

In architecture, the term given to the semicircular apse of the Roman basilica, with a raised platform, where the presiding magistrate sat; subsequently applied generally to any raised structure from which speeches were delivered and to the private box of the emperor at the Circus Maximus. It is also given to the celebrated octagon room of the Uffizi at Florence, and sometimes to a gallery or triforium.

The most common meaning is the area within a vaulted or semi-domed apse in a room or church. In this sense a tribune often contains an altar or a throne. These features where particularly common in Roman and Byzantine architecture. In Christian basilicas the term is retained for the semicircular recess behind the choir, as at San Clemente in Rome, Sant'Apollinare in Classe in Ravenna, San Zeno at Verona, San Miniato near Florence.

Tribune can also refer to a gallery or open arcade which overlooks the nave of a church or indeed any large hall, usually situated below a clerestory.

The term is also loosely applied to various other raised spaces in secular as well as ecclesiastical buildings, in the latter sometimes in the place of pulpit, as in that of the refectory of St. Martin des Champs at Paris. Thus it can refer to a dais or stage like platform, or in a vaguer sense any place in a building from which a speech can be prominently made, which seems a return to the original function of the early Roman tribunal. In this sense it also gave rise to metaphorical use, especially for a press organ which offers a means of expression, hence commonly used as or as part of the title of newspapers, magazines and broadcast programs.

Nikolaus Pevsner in his books "Buildings of Britain" always points out that a Tribune and a Triforium while often confused are not the same thing.