Decani (/dɪˈkeɪnaɪ/; Latin: 'of the dean') is the side of a church choir occupied by the Dean.^[1] In English churches, this is typically the choir stalls on the south side of the chancel. The opposite side is known as Cantoris.^[2]

The association of the Dean with the south side has propagated from the Sarum (now Salisbury Cathedral) liturgical norm, a practice that then propagated through pre-Reformation England and Wales.^[3] There are some notable exceptions in the monastic cathedrals, where the senior cleric under the bishop was the prior; he often sat on the liturgical north.^[3] Hence, in Durham Cathedral, Ely Cathedral, St Davids Cathedral, Carlisle Cathedral, and Southwell Minster, decani is on the north.

• Epistle side