  We present a study of the relationship between astronomy and landscape
centered on the orientation of Christian churches of the island of La Gomera,
located in the Canary Archipelago. The fieldwork consisted of measuring the
precise coordinates of 38 churches, which represents almost all of the island's
religious constructions, which has an area of approximately 370 km2. For each
church, we measured the azimuth and the angular height of the horizon taken in
the direction towards which the altar of each temple points. The data obtained
were corroborated with digital terrain models frequently used in
archaeoastronomical studies. Finally, for the study of the sample, various
analyzes were carried out: statistical, calendarical and orographic, trying to
find clues that would allow us to understand the pattern of orientations found.
From this analysis, we can infer that in some places the canonical tradition of
orienting Christian temples in the solar range was respected. Also, it is
possible that a few constructions were oriented with imitation patterns of the
aborigine cult, especially in solstitial directions. However, we find that the
orientation of the majority of the churches is towards the northeast and, in
the absence of a better justification, we think that reason should be sought
more in the terrestrial landscape than in the celestial one. Judging by the way
in which several small groups of temples are distributed, we estimate this
unusual pattern of global orientations is motivated by the particular orography
of the island. A significant proportion of churches seems to adapt to the
characteristics of their sites, orienting themselves according to the numerous
geographical features where they are located. These results allow us to
conjecture that the known "abrupt nature" of La Gomera is perhaps the main
reason for the particular pattern of orientations of its worship sanctuaries.
