Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
THE ASTRONOMICAL CLOCK
For many visitors, a major highlight of the Old Town is the
orloj
or
astronomical clock
,
which has been gleaming on the south wall of the Old Town Hall (Staroměstská radnice)
since the early fifteenth century. The working figures were added in 1490 by a
Master
Hanuš
who, legend has it, was then blinded with a red-hot poker by the town councilors
to make sure he couldn't repeat the feat anywhere else. In retaliation, he groped his way
around the clock, succeeded in stopping it, and then promptly died of a heart attack - the
clock stayed broken for more than eighty years.
Today, a crowd of tourists gathers every hour (9am-9pm) in front of the tower to watch a
mechanical dumbshow by the clock's assorted figures, which all had to be re-carved by a
local puppeteer after World War II: the Apostles shuffle past the top two windows, bowing
to the audience, while perched on pinnacles below are the four threats to the city as per-
ceived by the medieval mind - Death carrying his hourglass and tolling his bell, the Jew
withhismoneybags(since1945minushisstereotypicalbeard),Vanityadmiringhisreflec-
tionandaturbanedTurkshakinghishead.Beneaththemovingfigures,fourcharactersrep-
resenting Philosophy, Religion, Astronomy and History stand motionless throughout the
performance.Finally,acockerelpopsoutandflapsitswingstosignalthattheshow'sover;
the clock then chimes the hour.
The complex
clock face
tells three different sets of time: the golden hand points to a
double set of Roman numerals from I to XII, and when the hand points to the top XII, it's
noon (
Central EuropeanTime
); it also points to the outer ring of Gothic numbers from 1
to24,which canrotate independently,andwhenthehandpoints to24itissunset (
OldBo-
hemianTime
); finally, the numbers from 1 to 12 immediately below the Roman numerals
divide the day into twelve hours, however many normal hours of daylight there are, and
the golden sun tells you what time of day it is (
Babylonian Time
). The clock also charts
- as the medieval astronomer saw it - the movements of the sun and planets around the
earth, and the movement of the sun and moon through the signs of the zodiac; therefore, if
youknowhow,youcandetermine thedate.Therevolvingdialbelowtheclockfaceisdec-
orated with bucolic paintings of the “cycle of twelve idylls from the life of the Bohemian
peasant”, plus the signs of the zodiac, by
JosefMánes
, a leading light in the Czech nation-
al revival. Around the edge, yet another pointer shows what day of the month and week it
is, and, more importantly, what saint's day it is (and therefore when it's a holiday).
Hus Monument
Metro Staroměstská
The most recent arrival in the Old Town Square is the colossal
Hus Monument
, a turbulent
seaofblackenedbodies-theoppressedtohisright,thedefianttohisleft-outofwhichrises
