Astronomical knowledge flourished in the Islamic world during medieval times. Many observatories were built in cities from Damascus to Baghdad, where detailed astronomical observations were taken. Particularly, a few solar parameters were measured and detailed observations of the Sun were taken. Solar observations were taken with the purpose of navigation, but mostly for timekeeping. Islam requires its followers to pray five times a day, at specific position of the Sun in the sky. As such, accurate observations of the Sun and its trajectory on the sky were needed. In the late 10th century, Iranian astronomer Abu-Mahmud Khojandi built a massive observatory near Tehran. There, he took accurate measurements of a series of meridian transits of the Sun, which he later used to calculate the obliquity of the ecliptic. Following the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Western Europe was cut from all sources of ancient scientific knowledge, especially those written in Greek. This, plus de-urbanisation and diseases such as the Black Death led to a decline in scientific knowledge in Medieval Europe, especially in the early Middle Ages. During this period, observations of the Sun were taken either in relation to the zodiac, or to assist in building places of worship such as churches and cathedrals.