entrance porch, narthex

przednawie (gr. pronaos) przylegające do nawy, niekiedy mieszczące nagrobki fundatorów świątyni (w niektórych wypadkach są one umieszczone w osobnej komorze grobowej

The purpose of the narthex was to allow those not eligible for admittance into the general congregation (particularly catechumens and penitents) to hear and partake in the service. The narthex would often include a baptismal font so that infants or adults could be baptized there before entering the nave, and to remind other believers of their baptisms as they gathered to worship. The narthex is thus traditionally a place of penitence, and in Eastern Christianity some penitential services, such as the Little Hours during Holy Week are celebrated there, rather than in the main body of the church. In the Russian Orthodox Church funerals are traditionally held in the narthex.

Later reforms removed the requirement to exclude people from services who were not full members of the congregation, which in some traditions obviated the narthex. Church architects continued, however, to build a room before the entrance of the nave. This room could be called an inside vestibule (if it is architecturally part of the nave structure) or a porch (if it is a distinct, external structure). Some traditions still call this area the narthex as it represents the point of entry into the church, even if everyone is admitted to the nave itself.

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Note added at   8 godz. (2012-02-01 10:17:26 GMT)
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Przednawie - w architekturze bizantyjskiej wyodrębnione pomieszczenie w cerkwi poprzedzające nawę, a poprzedzone niekiedy przedsionkiem często służące jako babiniec oraz miejsce pochówku znamienitych osób.