Alfiz—decorative square or rectangular frame or molding around one (or several) arched openings, usually beginning at the spring line of the arch, borrowed from Islamic culture of northern Africa and southern Spain
Apse—rear wall of the sanctuary of the church, typically semicircular, faceted or rectangular and reinforced by exterior buttresses
Artesonado ceiling—mudéjar decorative coffered wood ceiling, sometimes with geometric strapwork
Atrial cross—freestanding cross, usually of stone and often with carved symbols of the crucifixion, set on a masonry base and located in the center of the atrio
Atrio—large walled courtyard usually in front of the church or convento
Banco—built-in backless bench along a wall, made of stone or plastered masonry
Baptismal font—large stone basin on a stone pedestal to hold holy water used for baptism
Barrel vault—half-cylinder masonry roof structure, usually round in profile but sometimes elliptical
Basilica—church with three aisles or bays running the length of the nave, the center bay and side bays separated by colonnades
Calicanto—a Mexican term for rustic stone work using undressed stones set in lime mortar
Camino de rondo—continuous passageway, inside a thick wall or on a setback at the upper level, connecting high window openings
Chancel—the sanctuary of the church, often raised a few steps, reserved for the altar and those conducting church ritual
Chancel arch—an arch and supporting columns or piers, plain or decorated, that frame the sanctuary and symbolically separate it from the nave of the church
Ciborium—raised domed canopy supported on four columns, sheltering the altar
Cloister—an arcaded covered walkway running around all four sides of the patio of the monastery
Convento—mission complex including the church and attached friary
Corbel—wooden bracket with a decorative profile used to support a ceiling beam or lintel
Coro—choir loft located above the main church entry at the opposite end of the nave from the sanctuary
Corpus christi—feast day celebrating the Holy Eucharist occurring on the first Thursday after Trinity Sunday
Cryptocollateral—having a single nave with deep chapels along the nave walls separated by internal butresses
Encomendero—person granted and receiving the benefits of an encomienda or allocation of expropriated indigenous labor within a geographic area
Espadaña—freestanding wall on top of a church, containing openings for bells and sometimes having a decorative profile
Friary—residence of friars adjoining the church and containing a cloister
Frontispiece—the combination of elements that frame and decorate the main, or front, door of a building
Garita—small hollow masonry structure with pierced openings, located along the side parapet of the church on top of a buttress and often sheltering a drainage canal
Groin vault—vault formed by intersecting perpendicular barrel vaults, one parallel to the nave and one perpendicular
Grotesque—type of decoration using sculpted or painted curvilinear bilateral designs in a fantastic combination of botanical, animal, and human forms arranged typically in vertical or horizontal bands, popular in the Renaissance after the discovery of similar decoration in buried Roman ruins in the late fifteenth century
Isabelline—architectural style, popular during the reign of Queen Isabella of Castile, considered late Gothic while combining Moorish, Flemish, and Italian influences
Jacal—rudimentary structure typically made of vertical wooden poles lashed together and covered with mud plaster
Merlon—projection on top a masonry wall or parapet repeated at regular intervals to form a battlement for defense or a decorative profile
Mestizo—person of primarily or partially indigenous racial origin who no longer identifies with and practices indigenous culture
Millennium—the anticipated thousand-year period of utopia ruled by Christ after the Second Coming, as deduced from the biblical source Revelation 20
Mudéjar—decorative elements derived from the Muslim world and including octagonal towers, decorative battlements, artesonado ceilings, mixtilinear arches and mixtilinear geometric patterning of walls and ceilings
Nave—long central part of the church where the congregation sits or stands during religious services
Noria—in the Yucatán, a machine of gears and wheels powered by draft animals and used to lift water into a small aqueduct
Patio—garden or courtyard space enclosed by the cloister
Plateresque—style of sculptural decoration popular in Spain and elsewhere during the Renaissance and characterized by delicate designs of lyrical candelabra columns, finials, insignias, and entablatures raised in bas relief on a plain background
Portería—covered but open-air space giving entrance to the monastery, often in the form of an inset portico with bancos
Posa—small four-sided structure having several open sides, usually placed in a corner of the atrio and sheltering an altar used in processions around the atrio
Retablo mayor—primary altar screen located behind the altar, usually a gilt or painted carved wooden ensemble supporting paintings and/or sculptures of holy figures and events
Ribbed vault—a groin vault with masonry ribs along the diagonal seams between the panels and often with additional ribs forming a radial tracery or network
Sacristy—a special room near the sanctuary designated for sacred vessels, vestments, and other articles needed for liturgical use
Sala de profundis—room on the ground floor of the monastery, often adjacent to the refectory, used for prayers of the friars, so named after the first words of Psalm 130
Sanctuary—area within the apse that contains the main altar, normally a few steps higher than the nave
Sgraffito—technique using layers of different colors of plasters and then scratching through or removing areas of the upper layer to create decorative patterns
Sotocoro—area under the choir loft just inside the main door of the church that serves as an entry space and sometimes a place for the baptismal font and holy water stoups
Tequitqui—post-conquest art, particularly bas-relief panels, using European motifs but apparently made by indigenous artists and usually with a certain naïve densely patterned character
Testera—inset altar-like niche with painted or sculpted images framed by a band of carved or painted ornamentation, serving as a focal point for processions or meditative perambulation around the lower floor of the cloister
Visita—a church or open chapel within the administrative area of a convento and served by the friars of the convento who traveled there to say mass and perform other religious duties
Voladores—men who perform a preconquest sacred ritual involving a tall pole from which they spiral out and down through the air, each supported by a rope that slowly unwinds from a spindle revolving at the top of the pole as gravity carries them slowly earthward