Unpacking a popular wellness trend
An early equatorial sundial stands like an ancient satellite dish in the Forbidden City. The circular slab is etched with date rings and hour lines.
The support tower of the Sundial Bridge points due north at a cantilevered angle, allowing it to serve as a gnomon of a sundial. The bridge spans the Sacramento River.
Founded in 670 CE, the Great Mosque of Kairouan includes among its many cultural riches an ancient horizontal sundial, located in the courtyard.
Pictured is a modern hemispheric, placed in the city's Gyeongbokgung Palace. Based on the principles of the sundial, the pointer tip acts as the nodus and the height of the nodus-shadow gives the time of the year.
The Carpe Diem sundial, which dates back to 1961, was made by renowned French gnomonics expert René R.J. Rohr (1905–2000).
The Clementine Sundial in the Basilica of Saint Mary of the Angels was designed by Francesco Bianchini (1662–1729). It was inaugurated in 1702 on the meridian that crosses the city.
The facade of the Schürstabhaus, on Sebalder Platz, features this historic sundial.
Standing in the city's Botanic Gardens is this sundial, designed for use near the equator. The time is indicated by the horizontal bar while hours are numbered on the arc.
The Jantar Mantar is an astronomical observation site built in the early 18th century. Among the 20 or so fixed instruments found onsite is the world's largest stone sundial. The whole area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
A pair of leaping bronze dolphins tell the time to the nearest minute thanks to this ingenious equinoctial sundial that looms over the meridian line at the Royal Observatory.
The magnificent Wilanów Palace sundial with Chronos. The palace dates back to the 17th century and is one of the country's most important monuments.
One of the world's oldest sundials (pictured) was found in Egypt's Valley of the Kings by a team of researchers from Basel University. But scholars believe a mysterious slab of rock discovered in Russia that appears to combine a sundial with a moondial could date as far back as the Bronze Age, as revealed by Seeker.
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Not to be out-dialed by its great academic rival, Cambridge's incredibly intricate "Dial in Old Court" at Queens' College is painted on flat blocks of stone and dates back to 1642.
Several beautiful sundials adorn the carefully preserved walls of the 13th-century Český Krumlov Castle, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Designed by Sir Christopher Wren (1632–1723), the highly ornate sundial at All Souls College overlooks the quadrangle.
The "Timepiece," a modern equinoctial sundial designed by Wendy Taylor in 1973, is set on the bank of St. Katherine Docks, near the city's iconic Tower Bridge.
These days we find out the time by looking at a clock, glancing at a wristwatch, or peeking at a smartphone. Back in the day, however, the only reliable way to ascertain the hour was by sundial. Some of these devices have survived millennia. Others are still made today as functioning time measuring devices, or created as contemporary works of art.
Click through the gallery for a few minutes and find out more about these lovely old shadow clocks—and discover an astonishing revelation from the dawn of time!
Sundials: this is how we used to tell time!
History's ornate shadow clocks
LIFESTYLE Sun
These days we find out the time by looking at a clock, glancing at a wristwatch, or peeking at a smartphone. Back in the day, however, the only reliable way to ascertain the hour was by sundial. Some of these devices have survived millennia. Others are still made today as functioning time measuring devices, or created as contemporary works of art.
Click through the gallery for a few minutes and find out more about these lovely old shadow clocks—and discover an astonishing revelation from the dawn of time!