![Cathedral schematic plan en vectorial](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/Cathedral_schematic_plan_en_vectorial.svg)
Liturgical east and west is a concept in the
orientation of churches
Within church architecture, orientation is an arrangement by which the point of main interest in the interior is towards the east ( la, oriens). The east end is where the altar is placed, often within an apse. The façade and main entrance are acc ...
. It refers to the fact that the end of a
church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* Chris ...
which has the
altar
An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...
, for
symbol
A symbol is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise very different conc ...
ic
religious
Religion is usually defined as a social system, social-cultural system of designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morality, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sacred site, sanctified places, prophecy, prophecie ...
reasons, is traditionally on the east side of the church (to the right in a diagram).
Traditionally churches are constructed so that during the celebration of the morning
liturgy
Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...
the priest and congregation face towards the rising sun, a symbol of Christ and the
Second Coming
The Second Coming (sometimes called the Second Advent or the Parousia) is a Christian (as well as Islamic and Baha'i) belief that Jesus will return again after his ascension to heaven about two thousand years ago. The idea is based on messi ...
.
However, frequently the building cannot be built to match liturgical direction. In
parish church
A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...
es, liturgical directions often do not coincide with
geography
Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...
; even in
cathedrals
A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...
, liturgical and geographic directions can be in almost precise opposition (for example, at
St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral, Seattle
St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral in Seattle, Washington, is the seat of the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia. St. Mark's was founded as a mission church of Trinity Parish Church.
History
Plans for the building, located on the west sid ...
, liturgical east is nearly due west).
![St](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c8/St._Paul%27s_Church%2C_Covent_Garden%2C_London.jpg)
For convenience, churches are always described as though the end with the main altar is at the east, whatever the reality, with the other ends and sides described accordingly. Therefore common terms such as "east end", "west door", "north aisle" etc are immediately comprehensible. These orientations may be preceded by "liturgical", or not. In a typical Western church, such as the one illustrated, the "back" of the church is therefore the west end, and as the visitor moves up the aisle towards the main altar the north side is to the left, and the south to the right.
A relatively unusual example of a church where the correct liturgical orientation was regarded as important, and overrode architectural considerations, is
St Paul's, Covent Garden
St Paul's Church is a Church of England parish church located in Bedford Street, Covent Garden, central London. It was designed by Inigo Jones as part of a commission for the 4th Earl of Bedford in 1631 to create "houses and buildings fit ...
in London, of 1631, by
Inigo Jones
Inigo Jones (; 15 July 1573 – 21 June 1652) was the first significant architect in England and Wales in the early modern period, and the first to employ Vitruvian rules of proportion and symmetry in his buildings.
As the most notable archit ...
. This was the first completely new English church since the
English Reformation
The English Reformation took place in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away from the authority of the pope and the Catholic Church. These events were part of the wider European Protestant Reformation, a religious and poli ...
, and given a site on the west side of the new
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...
development. Jones seems to have designed the church with three doors on the east end, leading down steps to the square, and under a grand classical temple portico; inside, the sanctuary and altar were at the opposite west end. However, it appears there were objections to this arrangement, and when the church opened the three doors onto the square were blocked off, and the entrance to the church was through the west end, with the sanctuary and altar at the "correct" east end.
Summerson, John
Sir John Newenham Summerson (25 November 1904 – 10 November 1992) was one of the leading British architectural historians of the 20th century.
Early life
John Summerson was born at Barnstead, Coniscliffe Road, Darlington. His grandfather wo ...
, ''Architecture in Britain, 1530-1830'', pp. 125-126, 1991 (8th edn., revised), Penguin, Pelican history of art,
References
Church architecture
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