A side chapel is a chapel in a church building, usually located adjacent to the nave of the main sanctuary. They are historically found in a number of large Roman Catholic, Evangelical-Lutheran, and Anglican churches. Side chapels include their own altar for the celebration of the Eucharist. Within a church, side chapels may serve various purposes, such as the normative place where baptisms occur or confession and absolution take place. Side chapels may house a relic of a particular saint. Side chapels that are dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary are called Lady chapels; these are common in the Roman Catholic and Evangelical-Lutheran traditions, as well as in some Anglican churches. When serving as the main area in which an anchorite or anchoress prays, a side chapel is called a anchorhold.
