Astronomical Alignments of Paleo-Christian Basilicas in Romania

Abstract

In this paper we present the first comprehensive study of the astronomical alignments of paleo-Christian basilicas located in present day Romania. 20 basilicas from 10 sites have been investigated using a digital compass and tools such as Google Earth, Stellarium, and heywhatsthat.com. Results show that except two all fall within the solar sunrise arc. Of these some point to the rising Sun during the feast days of well-known Christian saints. The two exceptions at Argamum and Dinogeția indicate that the basilicas may be converted. The astronomical analysis in these two cases indicates a possible alignment with the moonrise during the major lunar standstill and the rising of the stars Arcturus, Castor, Mirach, and Algiebe.

The Sunlight and the Hidden Paintings in the Church of San Lorenzo in Torino

“…In several publications, we find discussed the astronomical orientations of churches and cathedrals and the possible alignments of them along the directions of sunrise [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. However, religious buildings can be linked to the sunlight by other optical effects, and these effects that can be evidenced by some research work, such as in [20,21].…”