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Previous studies have reported that in southern Spain some medieval churches are aligned to sunrise on the canonical equinox, independent of their dedication, and to sunrise on 15th August, for dedications to the Virgin of the Assumption. This paper aims to identify  precedents of this tradition in the province of Soria (northeast Spain), where the campaign by Christians to recapture territory held by the Muslims was accomplished in the first third of the twelfth century. This Reconquista was followed by a repopulation process and the building of a large number of rural churches in the Romanesque Repopulation style until the middle of the thirteenth century, many of which are preserved. The paper studies a set of 73 parish churches dedicated to the Virgin of the Assumption in Soria, with a subsample of 44 ascribed to the Romanesque. Their azimuths were measured from georeferenced orthophotographs. The normalised sums of probability densities have been computed for azimuths and declinations, and subjected to quantitative statistical assessment by using the confidence envelope curve and total peak area methods. The results reveal that 50% of the churches in the Romanesque subsample have intended alignment patterns. About two thirds of these were aligned toward the “sol aequinoctialis”, which can be evoked by (1) true east (astronomical equinox), and (2) sunrise on 21st or 25th March in the Julian calendar, the dates of the ecclesiastical and canonical equinox, respectively. The remaining third were aligned towards sunrise on 15th August. Data allows discussion on the accuracy in the involved practical methods used for alignments and on some relevant questions on the origin and spread of this tradition.

The study of structures’ orientations in archaeoastronomy often involves the analysis of the empirical sum of probability densities (SPD) for azimuths and declinations. A first logical step is to test the null hypothesis A of a random distribution of azimuths. This paper applies two methods: (1) the confidence envelope method with the azimuth SPD; and (2) binomial distribution with a probability parameter found from geometric estimates. Some empirical SPDs for which A is rejected can be composed of several subpopulations of structures with different grouping criteria. To assess the statistical significance of peaks or attractors potentially targeted to specific azimuths or declinations, a null hypothesis B is formulated. In its strong version, this hypothesis negates the existence of any attractor, while its weak version focuses on the local region of the peak without hypothesising about the rest of the SPD. This paper presents two methodologies for assessing B: (1) the method of the confidence envelope, applied to the strong version of B; and (2) a geometric method with the binomial distribution and a probability parameter estimated from the normalised frequency around the peak in the SPD (for the weak version of B). The methodology is illustrated with a case study of churches dedicated to the Virgin of the Assumption in southern Spain.

Most of the earliest new churches built in Andalusia (southern Spain) following the thirteenth-century Christian Reconquista occupied the sites of former mosques. In some cases, these churches incorporated pre-existing architectonic elements – particularly minarets, which were converted into bell towers – or took some inspiration from Islamic architecture, creating a combination of Gothic style and elements from Muslim architecture known as Gothic-Mudéjar. This paper analyses the orientation pattern of a group of 68 Gothic-Mudéjar churches built in the cities of re-conquered Andalusia up to the early fifteenth century, and the normalised frequency distribution of azimuths is compared with published data for the qibla (the direction toward which Muslims turn to pray) observed at a group of 82 Andalusian mosques. Results confirm that a large number of churches were oriented via a 90° anticlockwise rotation from orientation to the qibla after placing the apse in the former eastern wall of the mosque. It is further argued, based on the histogram and a distinctive peak around 84°, that the architects aligned these churches to sunrise over the local horizon for 25th March according to the Julian calendar, the date of the canonical equinox. This practice reflects Church teaching and a medieval foundation-stone rite involving a dawn vigil, and the built structures reflect the limited technical capacity of the church builders. The method of orientation would also have created a precedent for the alignment of some later churches in southern Spain dedicated to the Virgin of the Assumption to sunrise on 15th August, the Feast of the Assumption.

This work studies the alignment of churches in southern Spain after the twelfth century. It merges the statistical analysis from a wide survey with the case study of Bujalance. In this area, the alignment of the parish churches of Our Lady of the Assumption and St Francis of Assisi (both from the early sixteenth century) accurately fit to the sunrise and sunset on their respective feast days. A systematic survey included all the parish churches with the two dedications above (N = 168 and 72, respectively), covering an area which roughly fits to the Muslim domain in the mid-twelfth century The measurement of their alignments allows an estimation of the continuous distribution of normalised frequency for each dedication. They show a major peak around the azimuths linked to the sunrise (Assumption) or sunset (St Francis) in their respective patronal festivals, as demonstrated by a detailed study of these churches.