Editing Cathedral floorplan (section)

==Design ==
Cathedral floorplans are designed to provide for the [[liturgical rites]] of the church.<ref name=FreCath>French Cathedrals, René Jacques; Translated by Dorothy Plummer; Wilhelm Andermann, Munich, 1959</ref>  Before the legalization of Christianity by Emperor [[Constantine the Great|Constantine]], Christians worshiped in private homes or in secretive locations.<ref name=Cook>The Cathedral, Course Guidebook; William R. Cook, State University of New York at Geneseo; The Great Courses, The Teaching Company; Chantilly, VA; 2010</ref> Once legally able to publicly worship, the local congregations adapted the available [[ancient Rome|Roman]] designs to their needs.  Unlike the Roman and [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] religions, where priests performed rituals without public participation, Christian worship involved the believers.  Thus, the limited spaces typically used in pagan temples were not suitable to Christian worship.<ref name=Cook/>
Roman civic buildings were designed for the participation of the citizens of the city, and thus the Roman [[Basilica]] was adopted for Christian purposes.  This included an entry on one end of a long narrow, covered space with a raised [[dais]] at the other end.  Upon the dais, public officials would hear legal cases, or expound on some matter of public interest.<ref name=Cook/>