Sundials in the Dominican Priory, Rabat, Malta - Sundials on Waymarking.com

In the Dominican Priory, Our Lady of the Grotto, Rabat, Malta, are five historical sundials dating from 1717. The sundials are on the walls of the terrace above the cloister, one facing east, two facing south and one facing west. One dial is on an outside wall facing east.

This was the highlight of our sundial tour of Malta. We were welcomed by the Prior, Raymond Gatto who provided us access to the upper terrace around the cloister. Normal public access is to the cloister only, not to the terrace.

The sundials were designed by “Castronius”, Fr. Benedict del Castronius, an Sicilian monk and mathematician, He was Prior in 1717 and 1718 when he designed the sundials. He was taught mathematics at the University of Palermo, Sicily and wrote books on mathematics and navigation.

The afternoon dial facing south 102° west is a simple dial with an equatorial line and hour lines for 7 pm to 12noon. A point gnomon curving downward seems incorrect. The lines in the bottom corners marked 1 and 12 are actually the lines for 1:30 and 1 pm. Noon cannot show on this north west facing sundial. The size is 2.51 m x 3.22 m. The motto is SINE SOLE SILEO Latin for “Without the sun, I am silent. A Gemini zodiac symbol is in the center perhaps marking the summer solstice declination line formed by the ends of the hour lines. The dial seems to be shifted to include the 12 line at the expense of the winter afternoon lines. The dial was repainted in 1915, 1962 and 1992 and needs it again. Paint on the porous limestone exposed to rain and sun does not last long. GPS 52.577 N, 014 23.980 E.

The south facing dial declines about 12° to the west. The gnomon is polar and short to include declination lines, the equinox line is drawn and the solstices indicated by the lengths of the hour lines. Zodiac symbols are shown, Gemini for the summer solstice and both Aries and Libra for the equinox. Size is 4.27 m x 2.80 m. Painted by Fr Castronius in 1717 and repainted in 1915, 1965 and 1992. GPS 35 52.595 N, 014 23.973 No motto.

Beside the south facing dial is a Meridian Noon Mark. This shows the vertical noon line marked off by the months and Zodiac symbols. The meridian was designed and painted by Fr Gulia Calcedonius, a Capuchin Priest in 1812. This was repainted in 1965 and 1992. Below the painted area is a cleared area indicating that an earlier dial here had a longer gnomon.

The morning sundial on the east facing wall has a polar gnomon almost parallel to the wall. This shows morning hours from 4 am to 12 noon. An equinoctial line is marked with the zodiac symbol. This was painted in 1717 and repainted in 1915 and 1965. GPS 35 52.588 N, 14 23.957 E.

We were then led to an outside terrace to see the final sundial, again an east facing dial showing morning hours. This dial has a point gnomon so the hour lines look very different compared to the dial on the inner parallel wall. The equinoctial line is the same as the previous dial. This was originally painted by Fr Castronius in 1717 but remade by Fr Gulia Calcedonius in 1824. GPS 35 52.590 N, 14 24.002 E

There is a long history to this pilgrimage site, starting with the visions of a hunter who saw the Blessed Virgin Mary in the grotto. Miracles, churches and the priory followed. The Prior admitted that the large building is now occupied by only about a dozen Dominicans. We were given a booklet on the history.

I thank Alexei Pace for arranging this tour and Fr. Ramond Gatto for welcoming us to the Priory. Public access is allowed to the lower area of the cloister where all but the dial on the outside wall are visible.

Sundial Type: Vertical - Wall mounted dial plate Related Web Site: Not listed

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