Loculus (architecture)

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

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,^[1] plain, as in the Catacombs of Rome, or sculptural, as in the family tombs of ancient Palmyra.

Concrete loculi at Igualada Cemetery, Spain

See also

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