Plan of a large Latin cross church, with the chancel (strict definition) highlighted. This chancel terminates in a semicircular sanctuary in the apse, and is separated from the curved walls to the east in the diagram by an ambulatory.Plan with the broader definition of the chancel highlightedView from the nave of the chancel of Condom Cathedral in France, with ambulatories and two altars, the modern one in the choirSt Peter's, Lilley, Hertfordshire a medium-sized English church showing the nave, chancel arch, and a chancel with choir and sanctuary
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building.[1] It may terminate in an apse.