Definition of "sanctuary"

sanctuary

/ˈsæŋktjʊəɹi/

noun
countable and uncountable, plural sanctuaries
1. A place of safety, refuge, or protection.
  Quotations
  She saw him, even as she had last gazed upon him, pale, cold, and awful; but still he was there. The coffin was to her like a shrine; all that she held most dear and most precious was within its dark and silent sanctuary.
  1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “The Last Night with the Dead”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], page 315
  ‘I understand that the district was considered a sort of sanctuary,’ the Chief was saying. ‘An Alsatia like the ancient one behind the Strand, or the Saffron Hill before the First World War. […]’
  1963, Margery Allingham, “Foreword”, in The China Governess‎
2. An area set aside for protection.
3. A state of being protected, asylum.
4. The consecrated (or sacred) area of a church or temple around its tabernacle or altar.