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A chapel is a religious place of fellowship, prayer and worship that is attached to a larger, often nonreligious institution or that is considered an extension of a primary religious institution. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a college, hospital, palace, prison, funeral home, church, synagogue or mosque, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building, sometimes with its own grounds.〔(''Catholic Encyclopedia'' )〕 Many military installations have chapels for the use of military personnel, normally under the leadership of a military chaplain. Until the Protestant Reformation, a chapel denoted a place of worship that was either at a secondary location that was not the main responsibility of the local parish priest, or that belonged to a person or institution. Most larger churches had one or more secondary altars, which if they occupied a distinct space, would often be called a chapel. Although chapels frequently refer to Christian places of worship, they are also commonly found in Jewish synagogues and do not necessarily connote a specific denomination. In England, where the Church of England is established by law, nondenominational or inter-faith chapels in such institutions may nonetheless be consecrated by the local Anglican bishop. In Russian Orthodox tradition, the chapels were built underneath city gates, where most people could visit them. The most famous example is the Iberian Chapel. Non-denominational chapels are commonly encountered as part of a non-religious institution such as a hospital, airport, university, prison or military installation. ==History== The earliest Christian places of worship are now often referred to as chapels, as they were not dedicated buildings but rather a dedicated chamber within a building, such as a room in an individual's home. Here one or two people could pray without being part of a communion/congregation. People who like to use chapels may find it peaceful and relaxing to be away from the stress of life, without other people moving around them. The word, chapel, like the associated word, chaplain, is ultimately derived from Latin.〔http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chapel〕 More specifically, the word "chapel" is derived from a relic of Saint Martin of Tours: traditional stories about Martin relate that while he was still a soldier, he cut his military cloak in half to give part to a beggar in need. The other half he wore over his shoulders as a "small cape" ((ラテン語:capella)). The beggar, the stories claim, was Christ in disguise, and Martin experienced a conversion of heart, becoming first a monk, then abbot, then bishop. This cape came into the possession of the Frankish kings, and they kept the relic with them as they did battle. The tent which kept the cape was called the ''capella'' and the priests who said daily Mass in the tent were known as the ''capellani''. From these words, via Old French, we get the names "chapel" and "chaplain". The word also appears in the Irish language in the Middle Ages, as Welsh people came with the Norman and Old English invaders to the island of Ireland. While the traditional Irish word for church was ''eaglais'' (derived from ''ecclesia''), a new word, ''séipéal'' (from ''cappella''), came into usage. In British history, "chapel" or "meeting house", was formerly the standard designation for church buildings belonging to independent or Nonconformist religious societies and their members. It was a word particularly associated with the pre-eminence of independent religious practice in rural regions of England and Wales, the northern industrial towns of the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and centres of population close to but outside of the City of London. As a result, "chapel" is sometimes used as an adjective in the UK to describe the members of such churches ("I'm Chapel."). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「chapel」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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