Orientation of churches

Last updated
Cathedral oriented to the east. The arrow indicates the west front entrance. Cathedral.svg
Cathedral oriented to the east. The arrow indicates the west front entrance.

The orientation 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. [1] Within church architecture, orientation is an arrangement by which the point of main interest in the interior is towards the east (Latin : oriens). The east end is where the altar is placed, often within an apse. The façade and main entrance are accordingly at the west end.

Contents

The opposite arrangement, in which the church is entered from the east and the sanctuary is at the other end, is called occidentation. [2] [3] [4] [5]

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 liturgical east. [6]

History

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.[ citation needed ] Due to this established custom, Tertullian says some non-Christians thought they worshipped the sun. [7] Origen 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." [8] Later on, various Church Fathers advanced mystical reasons for the custom. One such explanation is that Christ's Second Coming 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". [9] [10] [11]

At first, the orientation of the building in which Christians met was unimportant, but after the legalization of the religion in the fourth century, customs developed in this regard. [12] These differed in Eastern and Western Christianity.

The Apostolic Constitutions , a work of Eastern Christianity written between 375 and 380 AD, gave it as a rule that churches should have the sanctuary (with apse and sacristies) 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 altar, behind which was the bishop's throne, flanked by the seats of the presbyters, while the laity were on the opposite side. However, even in the East there were churches (for example, in Tyre, Lebanon) 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 Apostolic Constitutions, 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". [13] [14]

The earliest Christian churches in Rome were all built with the entrance to the east, like the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. [15] Only in the 8th or 9th century did Rome accept the orientation that had become obligatory in the Byzantine Empire and was also generally adopted in the Frankish Empire and elsewhere in northern Europe. [12] [15] [16] The original Constantinian Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem also had the altar in the west end. [17] [18]

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 Petershausen (Constance), Bamberg Cathedral, Augsburg Cathedral, Regensburg Cathedral, and Hildesheim Cathedral (all in present-day Germany). [19]

The importance attached to orientation of churches declined after the 15th century. [20] In his instructions on the building and arrangement of churches, Charles Borromeo, archbishop of Milan 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 accordance with the rite of the Church it is customary for Mass to be celebrated at the main altar by a priest facing the people". [21]

The medieval mendicant orders generally built their churches inside towns and had to fit them into the town plans, regardless of orientation. Later, in the Spanish and Portuguese colonial empires they made no attempt to observe orientation, as is seen in San Francisco de Asis Mission Church near Taos, New Mexico. Today in the West, orientation is little observed in building churches, even by the Catholic church, and still less by Protestant denominations.

Inexactitude of orientation

Plan of Quimper Cathedral Plan de la cathedrale de Quimper.png
Plan of Quimper Cathedral

Charles Borromeo stated that churches ought to be oriented exactly east, in line with the rising sun at the equinoxes, not at the solstices, but some churches seem to be oriented to sunrise on the feast day of their patron saint. Thus St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna is oriented in line with sunrise on St. Stephen's Day, 26 December, in Julian calendar 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 body, those churches can only be said to have been oriented approximately but not exactly to the geographical east. [22]

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 Easter morning of the year of foundation. The results provided no support for the compass readings hypothesis. [23]

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 topography in rural areas. [24]

Similarly, a survey of a total of 32 medieval churches with reliable metadata in Lower Austria and northern Germany 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. [20]

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 Quimper Cathedral in Brittany.

Also the modern Coventry Cathedral 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.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church (building)</span> Building used for Christian religious activities

A church, church building, or church house is a building used for Christian worship services and other Christian religious activities. The earliest identified Christian church is a house church founded between 233 and 256.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crucifix</span> Image of Jesus on the cross

A crucifix is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the corpus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cathedral</span> Christian church that is the seat of a bishop

A cathedral is a church that contains the cathedra of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominations with an episcopal hierarchy, such as the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and some Lutheran churches. Church buildings embodying the functions of a cathedral first appeared in Italy, Gaul, Spain, and North Africa in the 4th century, but cathedrals did not become universal within the Western Catholic Church until the 12th century, by which time they had developed architectural forms, institutional structures, and legal identities distinct from parish churches, monastic churches, and episcopal residences. The cathedral is more important in the hierarchy than the church because it is from the cathedral that the bishop governs the area under his or her administrative authority.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East</span> One of the four cardinal directions

East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Altar</span> Structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes

An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paganism, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, modern paganism, and in certain Islamic communities around Caucasia and Asia Minor. Many historical-medieval faiths also made use of them, including the Roman, Greek, and Norse religions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cathedral floorplan</span> Floor plan showing sections of walls and piers

In Western ecclesiastical architecture, a cathedral diagram is a floor plan showing the sections of walls and piers, giving an idea of the profiles of their columns and ribbing. Light double lines in perimeter walls indicate glazed windows. Dashed lines show the ribs of the vaulting overhead. By convention, ecclesiastical floorplans are shown map-fashion, with north to the top and the liturgical east end to the right.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Architecture of cathedrals and great churches</span>

Cathedrals, collegiate churches, and monastic churches like those of abbeys and priories, often have certain complex structural forms that are found less often in parish churches. They also tend to display a higher level of contemporary architectural style and the work of accomplished craftsmen, and occupy a status both ecclesiastical and social that an ordinary parish church rarely has. Such churches are generally among the finest buildings locally and a source of regional pride. Many are among the world's most renowned works of architecture. These include St Peter's Basilica, Notre-Dame de Paris, Cologne Cathedral, Salisbury Cathedral, Antwerp Cathedral, Prague Cathedral, Lincoln Cathedral, the Basilica of Saint-Denis, Santa Maria Maggiore, the Basilica of San Vitale, St Mark's Basilica, Westminster Abbey, Saint Basil's Cathedral, Antoni Gaudí's incomplete Sagrada Família and the ancient cathedral of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, now a mosque.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iconostasis</span> Screen separating the nave from the sanctuary in Eastern Orthodox churches

In Eastern Christianity, an iconostasis is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a church. Iconostasis also refers to a portable icon stand that can be placed anywhere within a church. The iconostasis evolved from the Byzantine templon, a process complete by the 15th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apse</span> Semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome

In architecture, an apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an exedra. In Byzantine, Romanesque, and Gothic Christian church architecture, the term is applied to a semi-circular or polygonal termination of the main building at the liturgical east end, regardless of the shape of the roof, which may be flat, sloping, domed, or hemispherical. Smaller apses are found elsewhere, especially in shrines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transept</span> Architectural element

A transept is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") churches, in particular within the Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architectural traditions, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave. Each half of a transept is known as a semitransept.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chancel</span> Area around the altar of a Christian church

In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary, at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church architecture</span> Branch of architecture focused on church buildings

Church architecture refers to the architecture of buildings of churches, convents, seminaries etc. It has evolved over the two thousand years of the Christian religion, partly by innovation and partly by borrowing other architectural styles as well as responding to changing beliefs, practices and local traditions. From the birth of Christianity to the present, the most significant objects of transformation for Christian architecture and design were the great churches of Byzantium, the Romanesque abbey churches, Gothic cathedrals and Renaissance basilicas with its emphasis on harmony. These large, often ornate and architecturally prestigious buildings were dominant features of the towns and countryside in which they stood. However, far more numerous were the parish churches in Christendom, the focus of Christian devotion in every town and village. While a few are counted as sublime works of architecture to equal the great cathedrals and churches, the majority developed along simpler lines, showing great regional diversity and often demonstrating local vernacular technology and decoration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Choir (architecture)</span> Area of a church or cathedral

A choir, also sometimes called quire, is the area of a church or cathedral that provides seating for the clergy and church choir. It is in the western part of the chancel, between the nave and the sanctuary, which houses the altar and Church tabernacle. In larger medieval churches it contained choir-stalls, seating aligned with the side of the church, so at right-angles to the seating for the congregation in the nave. Smaller medieval churches may not have a choir in the architectural sense at all, and they are often lacking in churches built by all denominations after the Protestant Reformation, though the Gothic Revival revived them as a distinct feature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern Orthodox church architecture</span> Type of church building

Eastern Orthodox church architecture constitutes a distinct, recognizable family of styles among church architectures. These styles share a cluster of fundamental similarities, having been influenced by the common legacy of Byzantine architecture from the Eastern Roman Empire. Some of the styles have become associated with the particular traditions of one specific autocephalous Eastern Orthodox patriarchate, whereas others are more widely used within the Eastern Orthodox Church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Altar (Catholic Church)</span> Liturgical structure

The altar in the Catholic Church is used for celebrating the Sacrifice of the Mass.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ciborium (architecture)</span> Canopy or covering that covers the altar in a church

In ecclesiastical architecture, a ciborium is a canopy or covering supported by columns, freestanding in the sanctuary, that stands over and covers the altar in a basilica or other church. It may also be known by the more general term of baldachin, though ciborium is often considered more correct for examples in churches. Really a baldachin should have a textile covering, or at least, as at Saint Peter's in Rome, imitate one. There are exceptions; Bernini's structure in Saint Peter's, Rome is always called the baldachin.

<i>Ad orientem</i> Eastward orientation of some Christian worship

Ad orientem, meaning "to the east" in Ecclesiastical Latin, is a phrase used to describe the eastward orientation of Christian prayer and Christian worship, comprising the preposition ad (toward) and oriens, participle of orior.

<i>Versus populum</i> Liturgical stance

Versus populum is the liturgical stance of a priest who, while celebrating Mass, faces the people from the other side of the altar. The opposite stance, that of a priest facing in the same direction as the people, is today called ad orientem or ad apsidem.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liturgical east and west</span> Concept in church architecture orientation

Liturgical east and west is a concept in the orientation of churches. It refers to the fact that the end of a church which has the altar, for symbolic religious reasons, is traditionally on the east side of the church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Home altar</span> A shrine kept in the home of some Christians

A home altar or family altar is a shrine kept in the home of a Western Christian family used for Christian prayer and family worship. Home altars often contain a cross or crucifix, a copy of the Bible, a breviary and/or other prayer book, a daily devotional, a headcovering, icons of Jesus Christ and prayer beads, among other religious articles specific to the individual's Christian denomination, for example, the images of the saints for Catholics, the Small Catechism for Lutherans, and the Anglican prayer beads for Anglicans.

References

  1. ↑ CivilSeek, Orientation of Building and Rooms [A Complete Guide], accessed 12 May 2023
  2. ↑ Thomas Coomans, Life Inside the Cloister (Leuven University Press 2018), p. 28
  3. ↑ Noel Lenski, The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Constantine (Cambridge University Press 2006), p. 290
  4. ↑ Marilyn Stokstad, Medieval Art (Routledge 2018)
  5. ↑ Roma Felix – Formation and Reflections of Medieval Rome, Éamonn Ó Carragáin, Carol Neuman de Vegvar, (Routledge 2016)
  6. ↑ "East" in Curl, James Stephens, Encyclopaedia of Architectural Terms, 1993, Donhead Publishing, ISBN   1873394047, 9781873394045
  7. ↑ Tertuliano, Apologeticus, 16.9–10; translation
  8. ↑ "quod ex omnibus coeli plagis ad solam orientis partem conversi orationem fundimus, non facile cuiquam puto ratione compertum" (Origenis in Numeros homiliae, Homilia V, 1; translation
  9. ↑ Matthew 24:27
  10. ↑ Michael P. Foley, Why Do Catholics Eat Fish on Friday?: The Catholic Origin to Just About Everything (Palgrave Macmillan 2005), p. 164
  11. ↑ Uri Ehrlich, The Nonverbal Language of Prayer: A New Approach to Jewish Liturgy (Mohr Siebeck 2004), p. 78
  12. 1 2 The Oxford Dictionary of Christian Art and Architecture (2013 ISBN   978-0-19968027-6), p. 117
  13. ↑ Constitutiones Apostolorum II, 57}: Ὁ οἶκος ἕστω ἐπιμήκης, κατὰ ἀνατολὰς ἐπιτραμμένος, ἐξ ἑκατέρων τῶν μερῶν ἔχων τὰ παστοροφορεῖα πρὸς ἀνατολήν [... κείσθω δὲ μέσος ὁ τοῦ ἐπισκόπου θρόνος, παρ' ἑκατέρου δὲ αὐτοῦ καθεζέσθωσαν τὸ πρεσβυτέριον [...] εἰς τὸ ἕτερον μέρος οἱ λαΐκοὶ καθεζέσθωσαν [...] μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα γινέσθω ἡ θυσία, ἑστῶτος παντὸς τοῦ λαοῦ (translation)
  14. ↑ William E. Addis, A Catholic Dictionary (Aeterna Press 1961), article "Church: place of Christian assembly"
  15. 1 2 Helen Dietz, "The Eschatological Dimension of Church Architecture"
  16. ↑ Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2005 ISBN   978-0-19280290-3), p. 525
  17. ↑ D. Fairchild Ruggles, On Location: Heritage Cities and Sites (Springer 2011 ISBN   978-1-46141108-6), p. 134
  18. ↑ Lawrence Cunningham, John Reich, Lois Fichner-Rathus, Culture and Values: A Survey of the Humanities, Volume 1 |(Cengage Learning 2013 ISBN   978-1-13395244-2), pp. 208–210
  19. ↑ Heinrich Otte, Handbuch der kirchlichen Kunst-Archäologie des deutschen Mittelalters (Leipzig 1868), p. 12
  20. 1 2 Patrick Arneitz, Andrea Draxler, Roman Rauch, Roman Leonhardt, "Orientation of churches by magnetic compasses?" in Geophysical Journal, Volume 198, Issue 1, p.1-7
  21. ↑ Carlo Borromeo, Instructiones fabricae et suppellectilis ecclesiasticae (Fondazione Memofonte onlus. Studio per l'elaborazione informatica delle fonti storico-artistiche), liber I, cap. X. De cappella maiori (pp. 18–19)
  22. ↑ Ian Hinton, "Churches face East, don't they?" in British Archaeology Archived 2016-03-11 at the Wayback Machine
  23. ↑ Jason R. Ali, Peter Cunich, "The orientation of churches: Some new evidence" in The Antiquaries Journal
  24. ↑ Peter G. Hoare and Caroline S. Sweet, "The orientation of early medieval churches in England" in Journal of Historical Geography 26, 2 (2000) 162–173 Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.