Flèche (architecture)

In French, the word is applied to any spire, but in English it has the technical meaning of a spirelet or spike on the rooftop of a building.

[4][5] In particular, the spirelets often were built atop the crossings of major churches in mediaeval French Gothic architecture are called flèches.

[5] On the ridge of the roof on top of the crossing (the intersection of the nave and the transepts) of a church, flèches were typically light, delicate, timber-framed constructions with a metallic sheath of lead or copper.

[6] They are often richly decorated with architectural and sculptural embellishments: tracery, crockets, and miniature buttresses serve to adorn the flèche.

[6] The highest flèche in the world was built at the end of the 19th century for Rouen Cathedral, 157 metres (515 ft) high in total.