Sundials in Service Court of Clementinum / Slunecní hodiny na Hospodárském dvore Klementina (Prague)
N 50° 05.215 E 014° 24.969
33U E 458232 N 5548458
The highest concentration of historic sundials (15!) in Prague is surely in Clementinum, the former Jesuit's College. The four Baroque sundials you can find in its Service Court (Hospodárský dvur).
Waymark Code: WM84JR
Location: Hlavní město Praha, Czechia
Date Posted: 01/26/2010
Views: 228
In Clementinum Service Court you can find two East facing sundials at the third floor level. Another two South facing dials are also visible. They are dated back to 1658-1662 (as inscriptions confirm); it is not sure, that their author was Jesuit astronomer Valentin Stansel (1621-1705).
Sundials are richly painted (they display biblical motifs) and moreover, they are gnomonically interesting. Eg. the right Eastern dial indicates time from the most recent sunset (so called Italian hours). Its calendar consists of 3 declination curves for solstices and equinoxes. The Latin inscriptions read: "NON SOLO PANE VIVIT HOMO" ("A man does not live of bread only") and "ET VERBUM CARO FACTUM EST" ("A word becomes a body").