Abstract
A LECCTURE on “The Orientation of the Cathedral of Lund", which was delivered by Hans Erlandsson at the Observatory of Lund on May 23, 1946, has been published by the Observatory in ”Historical Notes and Papers", No. 21. In the donation letter of oanute, May 21, 1085, St. Lawrence was chosen as tnw patron saint of the cathedral at Lurid, and the document of the consecration festival, September 1, 1145, says that the cathedral was built in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Lawrence, so that the name of St. Mary must be considered in dealing with the question of the orientation of the building. The late C. V. L. Charlier's investigations in 1900 suggested that the axis of the cathedral was 24·3° north of west and that the building was founded on the day of St. Lawrence. Observations made in April 1946 showed that an error of about 5deg; had occurred in Charlier's investigations and that this was due to the masses of iron tubes and cramp irons hidden in the floor and masonry. He had measured 24·3° in one place, and this agreed with St. Lawrence's day on August 10 ; but it has been found that about 18deg; north of west must be accepted as the true value. On August 22, 1085, the angle for sunset at the place was 17° 54´, and this date corresponds to the octave of the Assumption of the Virgin. An examination of the neighbourhood suggests that the building may have had some relation to an old pagan cult, the reasons for which are given towards the end of the lecture. In addition to the work on the cathedral, it is suggested that the church of the Dominicans at Lund had St. Mary Magdalene as patroness. The axis of this church is 34deg; north of west, and sunset on July 22, St. Mary Magdalene's day, is close to this angle.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Orientation of Lund Cathedral. Nature 164, 518–519 (1949). https://doi.org/10.1038/164518e0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/164518e0