On the orientation of byzantine churches in thessalonike

Abstract

The present paper studies the orientation of 32 churches in Thessalonike, that date from the 4th to the 20th century. It investigates whether there is a connection of their astronomical alignment to any significant solar date or to the date of the patron saint’s festival. The majority of buildings under investigation (16) follow the city grid, parallel with the roman decumanus maximus, the modern Egnatia street, that is aligned to the rising sun during the winter solstice. Buildings outside the roman city have a variety of orientations. There are 7 cases of alignment on the patron’s saint day (5 positive and 2 indecisive). However, the alignent may be to the sunrise (3) or to the byzantine Third Hour (4), the time the Divine Liturgy reaches its climax. This has greater consequencies for the study of the orientation of byzantine churches, as it points to multiple solutions to the problem of the orientation towards the sunrise on patron saint’s feast day. © 2015 MAA Open Access. Printed in Greece. All rights reserved.