THE ALIGNMENT OF MEDIEVAL CHURCHES IN NORTHERN-CENTRAL ITALY AND IN THE ALPS AND THE PATH OF LIGHT INSIDE THE CHURCH ON THE PATRON SAINT’S DAY
Keywords:
medieval churches, orientation, objective and written evidence, GPS survey, Italy and Alps: Veneto region and Via Francigena, Patron Saint’s day, sunrise or sunset.Abstract
GPS surveys of 181 medieval churches situated in northern-central Italy and in the Alps demonstrate major axis alignments to the horizon positions of the rising and setting Sun or Moon. The geographic scope includes the Veneto region and the old Via Francigena pilgrim route, the 1,200 km tract from the Swiss Alps to southern Tuscany, passing through the cantons of Vaud and Valais and regions including the Aosta Valley, Piemont, Lombardy, Emilia Romagna and Tuscany. Construction dates range up to the Romanesque Age. In most cases, the church’s major axis coincides with the sunrise or sunset position on the Patron Saint’s day to whom the church was dedicated or on one of the four Virgin Mary’s medieval feast days, i.e: the Annunciation (25 March); Purification (2 February); Assumption (18 January, 15 August) and Nativity (8 September). Church alignments (major axis and windows) are derived from GPS ground surveys and were cross-referenced with medieval liturgical and astronomical sources as well as scholarly literature.
