Bonjour François and all, I have a suggestion and some web links on solar alignments. A church meridian of great interest these days is the meridian in Eglise Saint-Sulpice in Paris. See the description at http://www.paris-pittoresque.com/monuments/41b.htm "L'église Saint-Sulpice possède encore des richesses d'un autre genre..... l'obélisque en marbre blanc, haut de plus de 8 mètres, construit à usage de méridien par Sully et Lemonnier en 1773, pour fixer d'une manière certaine l'équinoxe du printemps et le jour de Pâques." See the full description at http://www2.iap.fr/saf/csmp/arr6n/centrea64.html
The Saint-Surplice meridian is a key element in the best selling novel "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown. This novel describes the meridian as follows, "Long before the establishment of Greenwich as the prime meridian, the zero longitude of the entire world had passed directly through Paris, and through the Church of Saint-Sulpice. The brass marker in Saint-Sulpice was a memorial to the world's first prime meridian, and although Greenwich had stripped Paris of the honour in 1888, the original Rose Line was still visible today." Pictures of the brass strip and gnomon of the meridian are at this website: http://www.davidphenry.com/Paris/da-Vinci-Code-Paris.htm This confused me as I expected the Paris Meridian to go through the Observatory of Paris at the south end of the Jardin du Luxembourg. It does. The current Paris Meridian, marked through Paris with brass Arago Medallions, passes through the Observatory and is about 150 meters to the east of the Saint-Sulpice meridian. The meridians are quite different but the novel brings them together. This is not the only fact embellished by the author to set the plot for his novel. See http://www.parissweethome.com/parisrentals/art_fr.php?id=31 for the locations of the Arago Medallions. For the Paris Observatory see http://www.paris-pittoresque.com/monuments/35b.htm "Rappelons seulement que le méridien de Paris, tracé dans la grande salle du second étage, divise l'édifice en deux parties par une ligne qui, prolongée du sud au nord, s'étend d'un côté jusqu'à Collioure, sur la Méditerranée, et de l'autre jusqu'à Dunkerque, sur la mer du Nord. Ces deux lignes, qui se coupent au centre de la façade, ont servi de base aux nombreux triangles d'après lesquels ont été levées au siècle dernier la carte générale de la France appelée carte de Cassini, et, dans le milieu du présent siècle, la carte dite de l'état-major, commencée sous la direction du général Pelet." My conclusion is that there are several Paris Meridians, built at different times for different purposes: At Saint-Sulpice, the Sully Meridian to set clocks and watches, and the Lemonnier Meridian to deternine the solstices, equinoxes and date of Easter; At the Observatory, the Cassini / Arago meridian to act as the Prime Meridian as Paris is the Centre of the Universe, to establish a base line for maps. There is also the Delambre/Méchain Meridian described in the book "The Measure of All Things". This survey to measure the world and define the meter used the Pantheon as the triangulation base for a meridian passing to the east, perhaps through the Bastille. Then there is the brass disc in front of Notre Dame which is not on any of these meridians. This disc is said to mark the centre of Paris and France and to be the base point for maps. I remain confused. Which is the true Paris Meridian? When I visited the Paris sites, I didn't get the same experience as you get straddling the prime meridian at Greenwich, with one leg in the eastern and the other in the west. The "Da Vinci Code" is a great read when treated as fiction. I was surprised to find, a week after I bought the book, that the whole text is available on the web, as a 878 kb pdf file. See http://athens.indymedia.org/local/webcast/uploads/2_dan_brown.the_da_vinci_c ode.pdf Enjoy the Solstice! Roger Bailey Walking Shadow Designs N 48.6 W 123.4 -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of f.pineau2 Sent: December 12, 2004 12:14 PM To: SUNDIAL LIST Subject: alignment Hello all I am preparing a talk about astronomical alignment in all kind of monuments. So I would grateful to receive links to website about this toppic. For example: Stonehenge, Carnac and others megaliths alignments Egyptian Pyramids and alignments with stars Inca, Aztec, Mayas monuments orientation churches and cathedrals orientation Indoor meridian in church memorial monuments with special orientation or enlightned by sun on special time. and all kind ... Thank you by advance ----------------------------------------------------------------- François PINEAU 37000 TOURS FRANCE 47° 23' 24" N , 0° 41' 19" E http://perso.wanadoo.fr/cadrans-solaires/ ---------------------------------------------------------------- - -
