Land- and Skyscapes of the Camino de Santiago: An Astronomy and World Heritage Sustainable Approach

Maitane Urrutia-Aparicio,Juan A Belmonte,Antonio César González-García

doi:10.3390/su14053047

Maitane Urrutia-Aparicio, Juan A Belmonte + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su14053047

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Abstract

The Romanesque churches dotted along the Way of Saint James are magnificent examples of cultural heritage, and their analysis from the perspective of cultural astronomy may, in an unobtrusive manner, provide information of hitherto unexplored facets of these treasures. This study aims to examine the pilgrimage road as a communication channel and to seek possible regional variations in the Christian kingdoms of Leon, Castile, Navarre and Aragon. Seen as a whole, the Romanesque churches of our sample present two main orientation patterns: towards either the ecclesiastical and astronomical equinox or to certain Easter Sunday celestial phenomena. However, equinoctial orientations are present only in Leon and Navarre, while Easter appears with more or less significance in every kingdom. The Camino de Santiago constitutes a sacred landscape with a common heritage, with a certain degree of cultural diversity that depends on the territory. These subtle differences have surfaced only in light of archaeoastronomical investigations.

Highlights

The Road of the StarsHeritage Sustainable Approach.The reasons for the Camino de Santiago, aka the Way of Saint James, being inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1993 [1] are unquestionable: first, because of the wealth of cultural heritage arising from the multiple exchanges between the Iberian Peninsula and the rest of Europe, especially concerning Romanesque art and architecture; second, the material record and its perdurability; and third, its display of the power and influence of faith during the Middle Ages. the Way itself refers to an interconnected network rather than to a particular pilgrimage route, the French Way is the route with the greatest Jacobean tradition
The regional division of the Christian kingdoms is based on the map of AD 1147 provided by the Spanish National Atlas of thekingdom based on the map of AD
The northward deviation present in the complete sample of orientations has particular date was systematically used to fix the orientation of a church, after a cerbeen explained previously as a result of the wandering Julian calendar [47]

Summary

Introduction

The Road of the StarsHeritage Sustainable Approach.The reasons for the Camino de Santiago, aka the Way of Saint James, being inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1993 [1] are unquestionable: first, because of the wealth of cultural heritage arising from the multiple exchanges between the Iberian Peninsula and the rest of Europe, especially concerning Romanesque art and architecture (see Figure 1); second, the material record and its perdurability; and third, its display of the power and influence of faith during the Middle Ages. the Way itself refers to an interconnected network rather than to a particular pilgrimage route, the French Way is the route with the greatest Jacobean tradition. The ‘French’ appellation is not vainly assigned given that people from the other side of the Pyrenees were the ones putting greater effort into the cultural diffusion of the Way and the construction of ecclesiastical buildings [2], mostly through the increasing impact of the Order of Cluny. These pilgrimage roads can be understood as a way of sacralizing the medieval European landscape. They are crucial to interpreting and providing meaning to the sacred places which, for their part, shape and highlight the route [3].

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