Churches of the Raška School: Monumental landmarks (a mathematical-geographical view on the direction of churches of the Raška school)

Abstract

The article presents the results of research on the direction of seventeen of the most notable churches of the Raška School on the territory of the Republic of Serbia, five of which are on UNESCO's World Heritage List. The azimuths of the main axis of each of these churches was measured and the dates were established when the sun rose in that direction on the physical horizon. With a single exception (the catholicon of Žiča Monastery), the main axes of all the churches lie in the eastern sector of the horizon. In nine churches the deviation of equinox East is ±60, while two of the churches (St. Achilles and the catholicon at Sopoćani Monastery), from a mathematical-geographical viewpoint, are ideally directed. No correlation was found between the direction of the churches and the points of sunrise on the days dedicated to the churches' patron saints.

Članak prikazuje rezultate istraživanja orijentacije sedamnaest najpoznatijih crkava raške škole u Republici Srbiji, od kojih se pet nalazi na Uneskovoj listi Svetske baštine. Izmeren je azimut glavne ose svake od njih, i određeni datumi kada sunce izlazi u tom pravcu na fizičkom horizontu. Sa jednim izuzetkom (katolikon manastira Žiča), ose svih crkava leže u istočnom sektoru horizonta. Kod devet crkava odstupanje od ravnodnevačkog istoka kreće se u granicama ±6°, a dve crkve (Sv. Ahilej i katolikon Sopoćana), sa matematičkogeografskog stanovišta, idealno su orijentisane. Nije uočena veza između orijentacije crkava i tačaka izlaska sunca u dane koji su posvećeni njihovim patronima.