Loculus (architecture)

For the Roman soldier's kit, see Loculus (satchel).

Concrete loculi at Igualada Cemetery, Spain

Loculus (Latin, "little place"), plural loculi, is an architectural compartment or niche that houses a body, as in a catacomb, hypogeum, mausoleum or other place of entombment. In classical antiquity, the mouth of the loculus might be closed with a slab, plain, as in the Catacombs of Rome, or sculptural, as in the family tombs of ancient Palmyra.

See also

• Kokh (tomb): sometimes translated as "loculus"
• Arcosolium: another niche-like tomb
• Glossary of architecture

Sources

• Curl, James Stevens (2006). A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (Paperback) (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 880 pages. ISBN 0-19-860678-8.