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The regions of East Asia, as well as South Asia and the Middle East are rich in cultural heritage of grottoes where a large number of Buddhist niches exist. Three-dimensional (3D) semantic modelling enriches 3D geometric models with an understanding of the historical and cultural value of cultural heritage, facilitating interoperability and analysis beyond mere visualization. 3D models with semantic information act as essential digital infrastructure for heritage management, knowledge dissemination and simulation analysis in cultural heritage. However, due to the lack of standardized data model for the grotto domain, it is difficult to exchange information, share knowledge and the advancement of spatial analysis and simulation. In order to fill the above-mentioned gap, this study develops a data model for niches as a CityGML Application Domain Extension (ADE) based on the CityGML 3.0 standard. In this ADE, niche components and their attributes are defined on two semantic levels, i.e., niche structural component and niche component member. A famous niche in China belonging to the World Heritage was selected as a case study to demonstrate the integration of geometries, semantics and attributes, illustrating that the extended ADE module complies with the CityGML 3.0 standard. This study provides novel insights into the 3D semantic modelling of niches as well as expands the applications scope of CityGML standard within the cultural heritage sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]