Astronomical clocks

An astronomical clock is a clock with special mechanisms and dials to display astronomical information, such as the relative positions of the sun, moon, zodiacal constellations, and sometimes major planets.

Connected Sites

Site Rationale Link
Bourges Cathedral The Astronomical Clock of Bourges cathedral dates back to 1424 and was made by the canon and mathematician Jean Furosis. The clock is made of a tower holding two clocks, painted red and decorated with flowers, shields and golden lines.
Chartres Cathedral The Chartres astronomical clock in Chartres Cathedral is an astrolabe clock, installed in 1528. It was overhauled, its mechanism replaced by an electric mechanism, in 2009. (wiki)
Dubrovnik The Dubrovnik Bell Tower constructed in 1444 has housed a clock since its creation, though due to earthquake damage, both the tower and the clock were replaced in 1929. A rotating moon ball shows the lunar phase. (wiki)
Lyon The Lyon astronomical clock in Lyon Cathedral was constructed in 1661, replacing a 14th-century original. It has an astrolabe dial and a calendar dial. (wiki)
Lübeck The astronomical clock of St. Mary's Church, constructed 1561–1566, was destroyed in the bombing of Lübeck in 1942. The present clock is a replacement by Paul Behrens, installed in 1967. (wiki)
Mantua and Sabbioneta Astronomical clock was installed in 1473 in the Torre dell'Orologio of the Palazzo della Ragione. (wiki)
Maritime Greenwich In the Royal Observatory
Old City of Berne Zytglogge, with a 15th century astronomical clock
Padua’s fourteenth-century fresco cycles On the Torre dell'Orologio on the Piazza dei Signori. The astronomical clock is the oldest surviving machine of its kind in the world and with a diameter of 5.6 m, it is also one of the largest. It was the first to be created in Italy and the second in the world.
Prague On the southern wall of Old Town Hall in the Old Town Square, installed in 1410
Riga The clock on the facade of the House of the Blackheads shows the time, date, month, day of the week, and lunar phase (wiki)
Roskilde Cathedral St. George clock
Stralsund and Wismar From 14th century in St. Nicholas Church, Stralsund
Strasbourg The Strasbourg astronomical clock is the third clock housed in Strasbourg Cathedral, following 14th-century and 16th-century predecessors. Constructed by Jean-Baptiste Schwilgué from 1838 to 1843, it shows many astronomical and calendrical functions (including what is thought to be the first complete mechanization of the computus needed to compute Easter) and several automata. (wiki)
Valletta The clock of the Grandmaster's Palace, installed in 1745, shows the hour, date, month, and lunar phase, and has bells struck by four jacquemarts (wiki)
Venice and its Lagoon St Mark's
Versailles The Passemant astronomical clock in the Palace of Versailles near Paris is a rococo astronomical clock sitting on a formal low marble base. It took 12 years for a clockmaker and an engineer to build and was presented to Louis XV in 1754.

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