The Astronomical Clock is a amazing piece of machinery. When it was rebuilt in 1490 by a man named Hanu\305\241, the city council ordered him blinded so he could never create a better timepiece. It sounds like an urban legend, but life was rough in the 15th century, especially for people skilled with their hands and their minds. The mentality of the age is reflected in the fact that the sun on the clock's face rotates around the Earth, and not the other way around. There are other ways the time the clock was created are captured in the way it tells time. The numbers on the clock face are both Roman and Medieval Arabic, which is purer and related to trigonometry much more closely than the rounded figures we used today. The day also begins with sunset instead of midnight, consistent with Old Bohemian standards. The clock still uses colors to symbolize the passage of day and night. The clock also shows the sun and moon moving through the different constellations. All of this is amazing in a 600-year-old timepiece, but the real show is still to come. At the top of each hour, the clock puts on a show. On the right, a skeleton representing death turns over an hourglass held in one hand. With the other hand he pulls a rope and the doors over the main clock face open revealing a procession of mechanical apostles led by Saint Paul. A rooster crows and the figure of a Turk (representing lust), a figure representing Vanity, and a moneylender (representing greed) animate.
King Karolo. In Stare Mesto, Praha
July 10, 2004
The Disney architects must have dropped some acid while visiting here.
July 10, 2004, Stare Mesto, Praha
A lovely old mass in the main square, Old Town, Stare Mesto, Prague.
July 10, 2004
Main square, Old Town - Stare Mesto - Praha
July 10, 2004. It's 9:20 am, too early for the tourists to choke the square.
A nice old rococco hotel, the Hotel Pariz, Stare Mesto, Praha.
July 10, 2004; 9:30 am
A lane with nice geometry.
July 10, 2004, Prague, Stare Mesto.
The square of the Astronomical Clock. The decorated building opposite is famous, but I don't have a guidebook handy to give you a rundown.
July 10, 2004, 9:45 am, Prague's Old town.
A typical narrow street in Prague's old town, Stare Mesto.
July 10, 2004; 9:45 am (before the tourists are out in force)
In Stare Mesta, spires of chapels in the neighborhood at the east end of Karluv Most.
Prague, July 10, 2004; 7:15 pm
Chapel, Stare Mesto, Prague.
July 11, 2004; 8:30 am
The Old Town Hall in Old Town Square, Prague.
In the south wall of this tower (left side) is a wonderful clock, the Astronomical Clock. The twelve apostles parade past windows on the hour. Hundreds gather to watch. I did, too, but the Windoze system in the local photo shop trashed the pix.
Sidewalk under a collonade, Stare Mesto, Prague.
July 14, 2004
Facades along the Vltava in the eveing, July 14. These buildings are west-facing, between the bridges Karluv Most (R) and Manesuv Most (L).
Except as explicitly noted otherwise, all images Copyright © 2004 Dan.
All rights reserved.
The Astronomical Clock is a amazing piece of machinery. When it was rebuilt in 1490 by a man named Hanu\305\241, the city council ordered him blinded so he could never create a better timepiece. It sounds like an urban legend, but life was rough in the 15th century, especially for people skilled with their hands and their minds. The mentality of the age is reflected in the fact that the sun on the clock's face rotates around the Earth, and not the other way around. There are other ways the time the clock was created are captured in the way it tells time. The numbers on the clock face are both Roman and Medieval Arabic, which is purer and related to trigonometry much more closely than the rounded figures we used today. The day also begins with sunset instead of midnight, consistent with Old Bohemian standards. The clock still uses colors to symbolize the passage of day and night. The clock also shows the sun and moon moving through the different constellations. All of this is amazing in a 600-year-old timepiece, but the real show is still to come. At the top of each hour, the clock puts on a show. On the right, a skeleton representing death turns over an hourglass held in one hand. With the other hand he pulls a rope and the doors over the main clock face open revealing a procession of mechanical apostles led by Saint Paul. A rooster crows and the figure of a Turk (representing lust), a figure representing Vanity, and a moneylender (representing greed) animate.
