What type of vault features intersecting diagonal ribs?

A rib vault is the type of vault featuring intersecting diagonal ribs.

These ribs form a visible stone framework beneath the vault’s webbing. They meet at the crown of a bay and carry loads toward piers, columns, and supporting walls. Because the ribs organize the structure, the infill panels could be made relatively light.

Rib vaults became especially important in Romanesque and Gothic architecture. Their pointed-arch versions helped builders create taller interiors, thinner walls, and larger stained-glass windows, particularly when combined with flying buttresses.

A common mix-up is the groin vault. A groin vault is formed by intersecting barrel vaults; a rib vault adds projecting ribs along those intersections. Barrel vaults and domes lack this characteristic diagonal rib framework.