The Astonishing Engineering Of Prague’s Astronomical Clock
Step aside Big Ben, Grand Central Clock, and assorted Rolex products: there’s a new chronographic monarch in town. Actually, it’s a far older timepiece dating back to 1410 on the Town Hall in Prague. This makes it the 600-year-old, undisputed title-holder of “Coolest Clock in the History of Ever.” “Elegant, sumptuous aesthetics meets timeless timekeeping mastery,” the ad might read. Prague’s Astronomical Clock, more properly the “Orloj”, is a stunning engineering marvel. From the outside, it looks like a color-coded, multi-layered, brightly painted clock-face of golden whorls and arcane symbolism. Inside, it’s a brain-bustlingly convoluted mechanism of endlessly churning weights, pulleys, ropes, and gears. As a multifunctional medieval astrolabe, it tracks “Old Czech Time” (from when the sun sets) using ancient Gothic numerals, the Sun’s intersection with zodiacal signs using Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, etc.), and “sidereal” hours using Roman numerals (our actual, uncorrected “day” of 23 hours, 56 minutes). It also depicts the phases of the moon, when the sun reaches its zenith above the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, the entire calendar year, and much more. Every hour from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. (except for Mondays), tourists can gawk at a procession of moving wooden figures...
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