Lights And Architecture In The Colonial Churches Of New Spain And Peru

I present findings from study of Colonial Churches of New Spain and Peru that demonstrate the original architectects intent. The churchs were designed in such a manner that the play of lights, especially from dome windows, marked days of astronomical and ecclesiastical significance. General architectural orientations of churches varied with churchs in cities generally aligned to cardinal directions, especially east-west, while rural missions were often oriented towards solstices. City street plans often followed church orientations but not inevitably, and some Colonial city centers still reflect equinoctial or solsticial orientation.The knowledge of these phenomena was lost to present day clergy and laity until Ruben Mendoza rediscovered them in California missions (2005, 2009). This work extends the range of these phenomena from the Franciscan churches of California to the Dominican churches of Mexico, Franciscan churches of Texas, and Dominican churches of Peru. The work presented here shows the design of the Colonial churches causes them to produce beams of light whose path could mark the equinox, solstice, or cross-quarter day (the day midway between the two).