Barrel vault
（重定向自Stilted vault）
![Nave of Lisbon Cathedral with a barrel vaulted soffit. Note the absence of clerestory windows, all of the light being provided by the Rose window at one end of the vault.](/Images/godic/202502/13/Lisbon281209.jpg")
![The Cloisters, New York City](/Images/godic/202502/13/Barrel_Vault1209.jpg")
![Roman barrel vault at the villa rustica Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, Germany.](/Images/godic/202502/13/Villa_Rustica_Ahrweiler_Kleiner_Raum_östlich_des_Korridors1209.jpg")
![A caponier is a large space enclosed by a roof and walls, covered with barrel vaults, as a covered means of access to the outworks](/Images/godic/202502/13/Fort-14-06-231209.jpg")
A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault or a wagon vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves, in the case of a pointed barrel vault) along a given distance. The curves are typically circular in shape, lending a semi-cylindrical appearance to the total design. The barrel vault is the simplest form of a vault: effectively a series of arches placed side by side, i.e., one after another. It is a form of barrel roof.