257:
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20:
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1137, when it began to be built. However, a survey of old
English churches published in 2006 showed practically no relationship with the feast days of the saints to whom they are dedicated. The results also did not conform to a theory that compass readings could have caused the variants. Taken as a
295:
Another survey of a smaller number of
English churches examined other possible alignments also and found that, if sunset as well as sunrise is taken into account, the saint's day hypothesis covered 43% of the cases considered, and that there was a significant correspondence also with sunrise on
220:
from 1560 to 1584, expressed a preference for having the apse point exactly east, but accepted that, where that is impractical, a church could be built even on a north–south axis, preferably with the façade at the southern end. He stated that the altar can also be at the west end, where "in
62:
Since the eighth century most churches are oriented. Hence, even in the many churches where the altar end is not actually to the east, terms such as "east end", "west door", "north aisle" are commonly used as if the church were oriented, treating the altar end as the
343:
faces north–south, perpendicular to the old cathedral that was bombed by the
Luftwaffe during the blitz. The porch over the main entrance extends over the old wall and, while not connected to the original building does make a nod towards continuity of the structure.
323:
discovered only a few aligned in accordance with the saint's feast, with no general trend. There was no evidence of the use of compasses; and there was a preferred alignment towards true east, with variations due to town and natural topography.
31:
of a building refers to the direction in which it is constructed and laid out, taking account of its planned purpose and ease of use for its occupants, its relation to the path of the sun and other aspects of its environment. Within
614:
II, 57}: Ὁ οἶκος ἕστω ἐπιμήκης, κατὰ ἀνατολὰς ἐπιτραμμένος, ἐξ ἑκατέρων τῶν μερῶν ἔχων τὰ παστοροφορεῖα πρὸς ἀνατολήν εἰς τὸ ἕτερον μέρος οἱ λαΐκοὶ καθεζέσθωσαν μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα γινέσθω ἡ θυσία, ἑστῶτος παντὸς τοῦ λαοῦ
327:
A notable example of an (approximately) oriented church building that – to match the contours of its location and to avoid an area that was swampy at the time of its construction – bends slightly in the middle is
83:
says: "The fact that of all the quarters of the heavens, the east is the only direction we turn to when we pour out prayer, the reasons for this, I think, are not easily discovered by anyone." Later on, various
303:
Yet another study of
English churches found that a significant proportion of churches that showed a considerable deviation from true east were constrained by neighbouring buildings in town and perhaps by site
148:) that had the entrance at the east end, and the sanctuary at the west end. During the readings all looked towards the readers, the bishop and presbyters looking westward, the people eastward. The
75:
The first
Christians faced east when praying, likely an outgrowth of the ancient Jewish custom of praying in the direction of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Due to this established custom,
526:
185:
The old Roman custom of having the altar at the west end and the entrance at the east was sometimes followed as late as the 11th century even in areas under
Frankish rule, as seen in
152:, like the other documents that speak of the custom of praying towards the east, do not indicate on which side of the altar the bishop stood for "the sacrifice".
588:
208:
The importance attached to orientation of churches declined after the 15th century. In his instructions on the building and arrangement of churches,
92:
was expected to be from the east: "For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man".
248:. Today in the West, orientation is little observed in building churches, even by the Catholic church, and still less by Protestant denominations.
128:) at the east end, to enable Christians to pray eastward in church as in private or in small groups. In the middle of the sanctuary was the
822:
628:
705:
683:
59:
The opposite arrangement, in which the church is entered from the east and the sanctuary is at the other end, is called occidentation.
570:
646:
728:
657:
533:
525:"quod ex omnibus coeli plagis ad solam orientis partem conversi orationem fundimus, non facile cuiquam puto ratione compertum" (
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generally built their churches inside towns and had to fit them into the town plans, regardless of orientation. Later, in the
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766:(Fondazione Memofonte onlus. Studio per l'elaborazione informatica delle fonti storico-artistiche), liber I, cap. X.
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body, those churches can only be said to have been oriented approximately but not exactly to the geographical east.
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Patrick
Arneitz, Andrea Draxler, Roman Rauch, Roman Leonhardt, "Orientation of churches by magnetic compasses?" in
849:
801:
116:, a work of Eastern Christianity written between 375 and 380 AD, gave it as a rule that churches should have the
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267:
Charles
Borromeo stated that churches ought to be oriented exactly east, in line with the rising sun at the
844:
175:
36:, orientation is an arrangement by which the point of main interest in the interior is towards the east (
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morning of the year of foundation. The results provided no support for the compass readings hypothesis.
237:
854:
186:
163:. Only in the 8th or 9th century did Rome accept the orientation that had become obligatory in the
64:
816:
Peter G. Hoare and
Caroline S. Sweet, "The orientation of early medieval churches in England" in
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At first, the orientation of the building in which
Christians met was unimportant, but after the
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were on the opposite side. However, even in the East there were churches (for example, in
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Why Do Catholics Eat Fish on Friday?: The Catholic Origin to Just About Everything
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Jason R. Ali, Peter Cunich, "The orientation of churches: Some new evidence" in
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advanced mystical reasons for the custom. One such explanation is that Christ's
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Cathedral oriented to the east. The arrow indicates the west front entrance.
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in the fourth century, customs developed in this regard. These differed in
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Handbuch der kirchlichen Kunst-Archäologie des deutschen Mittelalters
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Similarly, a survey of a total of 32 medieval churches with reliable
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53:
633:(Aeterna Press 1961), article "Church: place of Christian assembly"
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to be celebrated at the main altar by a priest facing the people".
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Helen Dietz, "The Eschatological Dimension of Church Architecture"
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The Nonverbal Language of Prayer: A New Approach to Jewish Liturgy
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were all built with the entrance to the east, like the Jewish
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19:
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they made no attempt to observe orientation, as is seen in
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accordance with the rite of the Church it is customary for
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275:, but some churches seem to be oriented to sunrise on the
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says some non-Christians thought they worshipped the sun.
764:
Instructiones fabricae et suppellectilis ecclesiasticae
590:
The Oxford Dictionary of Christian Art and Architecture
469:
Roma Felix – Formation and Reflections of Medieval Rome
706:
Lawrence Cunningham, John Reich, Lois Fichner-Rathus,
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56:and main entrance are accordingly at the west end.
781:Ian Hinton, "Churches face East, don't they?" in
440:The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Constantine
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171:and elsewhere in northern Europe. The original
708:Culture and Values: A Survey of the Humanities
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659:Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church
442:(Cambridge University Press 2006), p. 290
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136:'s throne, flanked by the seats of the
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685:On Location: Heritage Cities and Sites
167:and was also generally adopted in the
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427:(Leuven University Press 2018), p. 28
487:Encyclopaedia of Architectural Terms
283:is oriented in line with sunrise on
242:San Francisco de Asis Mission Church
182:also had the altar in the west end.
155:The earliest Christian churches in
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710:, Volume 1 |(Cengage Learning 2013
411:Orientation of Building and Rooms
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560:(Palgrave Macmillan 2005), p. 164
485:"East" in Curl, James Stephens,
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818:Journal of Historical Geography
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205:(all in present-day Germany).
1:
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44:). The east end is where the
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528:Origenis in Numeros homiliae
489:, 1993, Donhead Publishing,
279:of their patron saint. Thus
176:Church of the Holy Sepulchre
97:legalization of the religion
7:
347:
252:Inexactitude of orientation
238:Portuguese colonial empires
48:is placed, often within an
10:
871:
612:Constitutiones Apostolorum
575:(Mohr Siebeck 2004), p. 78
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16:Church architecture topic
425:Life Inside the Cloister
187:Petershausen (Constance)
804:The Antiquaries Journal
150:Apostolic Constitutions
132:, behind which was the
113:Apostolic Constitutions
850:Orientation (geometry)
474:Carol Neuman de Vegvar
472:, Éamonn Ó Carragáin,
413:, accessed 12 May 2023
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41:
24:
733:(Leipzig 1868), p. 12
631:A Catholic Dictionary
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22:
820:26, 2 (2000) 162–173
680:D. Fairchild Ruggles
203:Hildesheim Cathedral
199:Regensburg Cathedral
105:Western Christianity
845:Church architecture
783:British Archaeology
749:Geophysical Journal
391:Direction of prayer
376:Architecture portal
362:Christianity portal
161:temple in Jerusalem
34:church architecture
825:2016-03-04 at the
789:2016-03-11 at the
768:De cappella maiori
629:William E. Addis,
556:Michael P. Foley,
476:, (Routledge 2016)
453:Marilyn Stokstad,
341:Coventry Cathedral
287:, 26 December, in
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195:Augsburg Cathedral
25:
330:Quimper Cathedral
285:St. Stephen's Day
262:Quimper Cathedral
191:Bamberg Cathedral
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339:Also the modern
321:northern Germany
308:in rural areas.
246:Taos, New Mexico
230:mendicant orders
210:Charles Borromeo
165:Byzantine Empire
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770:(pp. 18–19)
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306:topography
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138:presbyters
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269:equinoxes
180:Jerusalem
118:sanctuary
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