Sundial in Couvent Saint-Francois, Vico, Corsica - Sundials on Waymarking.com

We visited the “Couvent Saint-Francois” in the hills near Vico one afternoon in April, 2011, in Holy Week, to view the sundial. The church was open and the gate to the monastery courtyard was not locked. The sundial was apparent on the south-facing wall of the courtyard. It has suffered due to weathering and peeling paint since it was painted in 1980. Paint does not last long on porous rock exposed to rain and drying sun. The dial declines a bit to the west based on the gnomon position and the bias for afternoon hours. A longitude correction is built in as the meridian is not vertical.

The monastery is suffering from poor maintenance but still functioning with a few priests of the Oblate Order. The history of the monastery is outlined in the newsletter of the Oblate Order in Canada V5, No 11, 2008 at the web link below. The sundial is mentioned in the last paragraph of the article with this quotation. “ An interesting fact: a solar clock on the wall of the Couvent simply states: ORA NE TE FALLAT HORA, (Pray so that you do not miss an hour, when your time comes.
Vico is on D70, the truck route from Ajaccio to Porto that avoids the narrow twisty tourist route through the scenic Calanche. There are significant high passes (Col de Sevi 1272m) and narrow twisty sections on this route as well including the section along the Spelunca Gorges. The monastery is well signposted at the main road junction in Vico. We visited this dial on a road trip from Ota, on our return from the Col de Vergio a hike along the GR20 and a visit to Calacuccia to find another “Couvent Saint-Francois” with a sundial.

Sundial Type: Vertical - Wall mounted dial plate Related Web Site: [Web Link]

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