The open cupola of Faneuil Hall (built c. 1742) in Boston, Massachusetts

Cupola above the main entrance of the prayer hall in the Mosque of Uqba also known as the Great Mosque of Kairouan, situated in Kairouan, Tunisia

In architecture, a cupola is a small, most-often dome-like structure, on top of a building.^[1] Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome.^[2][3] The word derives, via Italian, from the lower Latin cupula (classical Latin cupella from the Greek kypellon) small cup (lat. cupa) indicating a vault resembling an upside down cup.^[4] Cupolas often appear as small buildings in their own right. They often serve as a belfry, lantern, or belvedere above a main roof. In other cases they may crown a tower, spire, or turret.^[3] The chhatri, seen in Indian architecture, fits the definition of a cupola when it is used atop a larger structure.

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: cupolas

• Cupolas in Architecture