A whispering gallery is a gallery beneath a dome

Dome

A dome is a structural element of architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a sphere. Dome structures made of various materials have a long architectural lineage extending into prehistory....

, vault

Vault (architecture)

A Vault is an architectural term for an arched form used to provide a space with a ceiling or roof. The parts of a vault exert lateral thrust that require a counter resistance. When vaults are built underground, the ground gives all the resistance required...

, or enclosed in a circular or elliptical area in which whispers

Whispering

Whispering is an unvoiced mode of phonation in which the vocal cords do not vibrate normally but are instead adducted sufficiently to create audible turbulence as the speaker exhales during speech. This is a somewhat greater adduction than that found in breathy voice...

 can be heard clearly in other parts of the building

Building

In architecture, construction, engineering, real estate development and technology the word building may refer to one of the following:...

.

A whispering gallery is usually constructed in the form of an ellipsoid, with an accessible point at each focus. When a visitor stands at one focus and whispers

Whispering

Whispering is an unvoiced mode of phonation in which the vocal cords do not vibrate normally but are instead adducted sufficiently to create audible turbulence as the speaker exhales during speech. This is a somewhat greater adduction than that found in breathy voice...

, the line of sound emanating from this focus reflects directly to the dish/focus at the other end of the room, and to the other person. Circular whispering galleries may provide "communication" from any part on the circumference to the diametrically opposite point on the circumference.

United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

• Statuary Hall
  National Statuary Hall
  National Statuary Hall is a chamber in the United States Capitol devoted to sculptures of prominent Americans. The hall, also known as the Old Hall of the House, is a large, two-story, semicircular room with a second story gallery along the curved perimeter. It is located immediately south of the...
  
   in the United States Capitol
  United States Capitol
  The United States Capitol is the meeting place of the United States Congress, the legislature of the federal government of the United States. Located in Washington, D.C., it sits atop Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall...
  
   is a famous example of a whispering gallery.
• The Mapparium
  Mapparium
  The Mapparium is a three-story tall glass globe of stained glass that is viewed from a bridge through its interior. It is a unique exhibit at the Christian Science Plaza in Boston, Massachusetts....
  
   in the Christian Science complex in Boston allows visitors to enter the interior of reflecting surface forming nearly complete sphere, with very striking effects.
• Curved stone benches on either side of the Smith Memorial Arch
  Smith Memorial Arch
  Smith Memorial Arch is an American Civil War monument at South Concourse and Lansdowne Drive in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Built on the former grounds of the 1876 Centennial Exposition, it serves as a gateway to West Fairmount Park...
  
   in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, PA.
• Gates Circle along Delaware Ave., Buffalo, New York
  Buffalo, New York
  Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
  
  . Exterior circular concrete benches in sectors.
• Centennial fountain in front of Green Library at Stanford University
  Stanford University
  The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
  
   in California
  California
  California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
  
  
• The rotunda at San Francisco's city hall
  San Francisco City Hall
  San Francisco City Hall, re-opened in 1915, in its open space area in the city's Civic Center, is a Beaux-Arts monument to the City Beautiful movement that epitomized the high-minded American Renaissance of the 1880s to 1917. The structure's dome is the fifth largest in the world...
  
  .
• Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal
  Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal
  The Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal, originally Cincinnati Union Terminal, is a passenger railroad station in the Queensgate neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States...
  
  .
• Grand Central Terminal
  Grand Central Terminal
  Grand Central Terminal —often incorrectly called Grand Central Station, or shortened to simply Grand Central—is a terminal station at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States...
  
   in New York City
  New York City
  New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
  
   — the gallery in front of the Oyster Bar
  Oyster Bar
  The Oyster Bar, officially the Grand Central Oyster Bar & Restaurant, is a restaurant located on the lower level of Grand Central Terminal in New York City. It opened along with the terminal itself in 1913 and has been in business ever since, although it closed briefly for renovations following a...
  
   restaurant.
• The rotundas of the Texas Capitol
  Texas State Capitol
  The Texas State Capitol is located in Austin, Texas, and is the fourth building to be the house of Texas government in Austin. It houses the chambers of the Texas Legislature and the office of the governor of Texas. It was designed originally during 1881 by architect Elijah E. Myers, and was...
  
   and the Missouri State Capitol
  Missouri State Capitol
  The Missouri State Capitol is located in the U.S. state of Missouri. Housing the Missouri General Assembly, it is located in the state capital of Jefferson City at 201 West Capitol Avenue. The domed building was designed by the New York architectural firm of Tracy and Swartwout and completed in 1917...
  
  .
• A whispering gallery can be found on the main floor of the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.
• St. Louis Union Station Marriott

United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

• The library of Dollar Academy
  Dollar Academy
  Dollar Academy was founded in 1818, which makes it the oldest co-educational day and boarding school in the world. The open campus occupies a site in the centre of the thriving town of Dollar in Central Scotland, less than 40 minutes drive from the two main Scottish cities, Glasgow and Edinburgh...
  
   in Scotland
• The entrance gallery for the Aston Webb great hall at the University of Birmingham
  University of Birmingham
  The University of Birmingham is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Birmingham Medical School and Mason Science College . Birmingham was the first Redbrick university to gain a charter and thus...
  
  .
• St Paul's Cathedral
  St Paul's Cathedral
  St Paul's Cathedral, London, is a Church of England cathedral and seat of the Bishop of London. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604. St Paul's sits at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London, and is the mother...
  
   in London
  London
  London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
  
  . A. E. Bate, Note on the whispering gallery of St Paul's Cathedral, London. Proceedings of the Physical Society
  Proceedings of the Physical Society
  The Proceedings of the Physical Society is a journal on the subject of physics, originally associated with the Physical Society of London, England. - Journal history :* 1874–1925: Proceedings of the Physical Society of London...
  
  , 50:293–297, 1938.
• The Berkeley Pub on Queens Road in Bristol.

Rest of the world

• The Whispering Wall. Barossa Reservoir
  Barossa Reservoir
  Barossa Reservoir is a reservoir in South Australia, built between 1899 and 1902 to supply water to Gawler and other northern country areas. At the time of its completion, the reservoir was hailed as an engineering marvel, and at a total of 36 metres, was the highest in Australia...
  
  . Williamstown, South Australia
  Williamstown, South Australia
  Williamstown is a small South Australian town on the fringe of the Barossa Valley wine-growing region and the Adelaide Hills. It is 51km north east of Adelaide, with an elevation of 310m and an average rainfall of 682.7mm. Williamstown was originally known as Victoria Creek...
  
  .
• Cathedral of Brasília
  Cathedral of Brasília
  The Cathedral of Brasília is the Roman Catholic cathedral serving Brasília, Brazil, and serves as the seat of the Archdiocese of Brasília. It was designed by Oscar Niemeyer, and was completed and dedicated on May 31, 1970...
  
   in Brazil
  Brazil
  Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
  
  .
• Martello tower
  Martello tower
  Martello towers are small defensive forts built in several countries of the British Empire during the 19th century, from the time of the Napoleonic Wars onwards....
  
  s
• The Echo Wall in the Temple of Heaven
  Temple of Heaven
  The Temple of Heaven, literally the Altar of Heaven is a complex of Taoist buildings situated in the southeastern part of central Beijing. The complex was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for good harvest...
  
   in Beijing
  Beijing
  Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
  
  , China
  China
  Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
  
  .
• The Fazer
  Fazer
  Fazer is one of the largest corporations in the Finnish food industry.The company was originally founded by Karl Fazer in 1891, as a "French-Russian conditory" in central Helsinki...
  
   cafeteria in Helsinki
  Helsinki
  Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
  
  .
• The Gol Gumbaz
  Gol Gumbaz
  Gol Gumbaz is the mausoleum of Mohammed Adil Shah, Sultan of Bijapur. The tomb, located in Bijapur, Karnataka in southern India, was completed in 1656 by the architect Yaqut of Dabul...
  
   in Bijapur
  Bijapur, Karnataka
  Bijapur Urdu:بیجاپور city is the district headquarters of Bijapur District of Karnataka state. Bijapur city is well known for its historical monuments of architectural importance built during the rule of Adil Shahi dynasty...
  
  , Karnataka
  Karnataka
  Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
  
   State, India
  India
  India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
  
  .
• Masjed-e Imam in Esfahān, Iran
• Basilica of St. John Lateran
  Basilica of St. John Lateran
  The Papal Archbasilica of St. John Lateran , commonly known as St. John Lateran's Archbasilica and St. John Lateran's Basilica, is the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome and the official ecclesiastical seat of the Bishop of Rome, who is the Pope...
  
  , in Rome
  Rome
  Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
  
  , Italy
  Italy
  Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
  
  .
• Santa Maria del Fiore
  Santa Maria del Fiore
  The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore is the cathedral church of Florence, Italy. The Duomo, as it is ordinarily called, was begun in 1296 in the Gothic style to the design of Arnolfo di Cambio and completed structurally in 1436 with the dome engineered by Filippo Brunelleschi...
  
  , Florence Cathedral, in Florence
  Florence
  Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
  
  , Italy
  Italy
  Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
  
  .
• The Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem.
• Leaning Tower of Nevyansk
  Leaning Tower of Nevyansk
  The Leaning Tower of Nevyansk is a tower in the town of Nevyansk in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, built in the 18th century. Its construction was funded by Peter the Great’s associate and a famous Russian manufacturer Akinfiy Demidov .The height of the tower is 57.5 m from the ground and the...
  
   in Sverdlovsk oblast
  Sverdlovsk Oblast
  Sverdlovsk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia located in the Urals Federal District. Its administrative center is the city of Yekaterinburg formerly known as Sverdlovsk. Population: -Geography:...
  
  .
• Selimiye Mosque in Edirne
  Edirne
  Edirne is a city in Eastern Thrace, the northwestern part of Turkey, close to the borders with Greece and Bulgaria. Edirne served as the capital city of the Ottoman Empire from 1365 to 1453, before Constantinople became the empire's new capital. At present, Edirne is the capital of the Edirne...
  
  , Turkey
  Turkey
  Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
  
  .
• St. Peter's Basilica
  St. Peter's Basilica
  The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter , officially known in Italian as ' and commonly known as Saint Peter's Basilica, is a Late Renaissance church located within the Vatican City. Saint Peter's Basilica has the largest interior of any Christian church in the world...
  
   in the Vatican City
  Vatican City
  Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...
  
  .
• Monument to the Negev Brigade
  Monument to the Negev Brigade
  The Monument to the Negev Brigade , known locally as the Andarta, is a monument designed by Dani Karavan in memory of the members of the Palmach Negev Brigade who fell defending Israel during the 1948 Arab Israeli War. It is situated on a hill overlooking the city of Beersheba from the east and...
  
   in Beersheba
  Beersheba
  Beersheba is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the seventh-largest city in Israel with a population of 194,300....
  
  , Israel
  Israel
  The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
  
  .
• The Treasury of Atreus, Greece
• Secret's Chamber in El Escorial
  El Escorial
  The Royal Seat of San Lorenzo de El Escorial is a historical residence of the king of Spain, in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, about 45 kilometres northwest of the capital, Madrid, in Spain. It is one of the Spanish royal sites and functions as a monastery, royal palace, museum, and...
  
   in Madrid
  Madrid
  Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
  
  , Spain
  Spain
  Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
  
  .
• The Wispering Gallery in Alhambra
  Alhambra
  The Alhambra , the complete form of which was Calat Alhambra , is a palace and fortress complex located in the Granada, Andalusia, Spain...
  
   in Granada
  Granada
  Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...
  
  , Spain
  Spain
  Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
  
  .
• Cleopatra's Bath in the Siwa Oasis
  Siwa Oasis
  The Siwa Oasis is an oasis in Egypt, located between the Qattara Depression and the Egyptian Sand Sea in the Libyan Desert, nearly 50 km east of the Libyan border, and 560 km from Cairo....
  
  , Egypt
  Egypt
  Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
  
  

Whispering galleries also occur naturally in the ocean. Instead of the reflecting surface it is the sound rays that are curved and the reflecting 'wall' (the sea surface) is flat.D. E. Weston, Guided acoustic waves in the ocean. Reports on Progress in Physics, 42:347–387, 1979. The same phenomenon occurs for radio wave

Radio Wave

Radio Wave may refer to:*Radio frequency*Radio Wave 96.5, a radio station in Blackpool, UK...

s propagating in the atmosphere.K. G. Budden & H. G. Martin, The Ionosphere as a Whispering Gallery. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences, 265(No. 1323):554–569, 1962.

Many research institutions now do research on optical whispering galleries, which range in size from several micrometers to millimeters in diameter .

See also

• St Paul's Cathedral
  St Paul's Cathedral
  St Paul's Cathedral, London, is a Church of England cathedral and seat of the Bishop of London. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604. St Paul's sits at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London, and is the mother...
  
  
• Underwater acoustics
  Underwater acoustics
  Underwater acoustics is the study of the propagation of sound in water and the interaction of the mechanical waves that constitute sound with the water and its boundaries. The water may be in the ocean, a lake or a tank. Typical frequencies associated with underwater acoustics are between 10 Hz and...
  
  
• Sofar channel
  Sofar channel
  The SOFAR channel , or deep sound channel , is a horizontal layer of water in the ocean at which depth the speed of sound is minimal. The SOFAR channel acts as a waveguide for sound, and low frequency sound waves within the channel may travel thousands of miles before dissipating...
  
  
• Room acoustics
  Room acoustics
  Room acoustics describes how sound behaves in an enclosed space.The way that sound behaves in a room can be broken up into roughly four different frequency zones:...
  
  

External links

• Whispering Gallery Modes information from the University of Bristol
  University of Bristol
  The University of Bristol is a public research university located in Bristol, United Kingdom. One of the so-called "red brick" universities, it received its Royal Charter in 1909, although its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol, had been in existence since 1876.The University is...
  
  , UK
  United Kingdom
  The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
  
  .
• Whispering Gallery at the Museum of Science and Industry
  Museum of Science and Industry (Chicago)
  The Museum of Science and Industry is located in Chicago, Illinois, USA in Jackson Park, in the Hyde Park neighborhood adjacent to Lake Michigan. It is housed in the former Palace of Fine Arts from the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition...
  
  , Chicago, Illinois USA.
• Grand Central Station and St Paul's Cathedral: visiting information, videos and sounds of whispering galleries