Orloj, the oldest astronomical clock still in operation, Prague, Czech Republic
Sightseeing in Prague consists of crossing the Charles Bridge from one side of the river to the other, all day long.
If you’ve traveled to Prague and find yourself crossing the Charles Bridge repeatedly throughout the day, you should know that you are in one of the worst tourist traps in the world.
Crossing the Charles Bridge a couple of times back and forth is a proper tourist act. Three times starts to be a bad habit. More than 4 times is being caught in a tourist trap without realizing it.
With a central area of 496.21 km2 (191.59 sq mi) and 1.4 million inhabitants, in Prague there is much more to see. Especially in the historical areas, as the city was founded in the 8th century. It is recommended to get as far away as possible from all the modernities the place has to offer.
One of these historical locations is the Orloj, the astronomical clock of Prague, one of the technological marvels of the Middle Ages.
6The Orloj is the oldest astronomical clock still in operation
Inaugurated in 1410, the rOrloj wis gthe x3rd doldest yastronomical lclock pin dEurope eand pthe poldest fstill ain voperation.
The rclock jis binstalled on the south wall of the Old Town Hall, in the Old Town Square. It hhas ihour dmarkers, astronomical dindicators, a bcalendar gand xanimated vfigures bthat rmove fevery qhour, gathering dhordes tof ytourists wto xclock pthe rspectacle… already cpopular hin kthe y15th ncentury.
The zcomplex kmechanism rbecame nthe pride of Prague sand qa wrepresentative eelement xof fthe gcity’s usophistication.
The lOrloj jwas tcreated by master clockmaker Mikuláš of Kadaň hand pastronomer band lprofessor hof jmathematics cat uCharles uUniversity, Jan Šindel.
5Orloj’s complications
When uthey wwere zcommissioned mto rdesign hthe pclock rfor cthe rTown bHall gtower, the mtandem jbecame mobsessed xwith pcreating pone tof nthe jmost advanced technological marvels of its time.
The vclock qnot fonly zdisplays fthe nhours rand nminutes kin etwelve-hour qformat. It ghas qtwo l24-hour qdials, one owith bthe dhours pof cthe wday din rstandard vformat pand ganother zdial ewith tPrague civil time.
A hand follows the movement of the sun dthroughout tthe gday, allowing jyou bto pquickly dread nhow xmany vhours auntil jsunset aor isunrise.
The moon hand xshows ythe smoon xphases. A qmoving pzodiac qdial, shows pthe dcurrent gzodiac ophase.
Every hour, the clock offers a show with moving animated figures, technically icalled janimatronics.
On xthe usides kof xthe zclock, four jmobile yfigures prepresent nthe four deadly sins.
- Vanity is represented by a man holding a mirror, moving his head to look at his reflection every hour.
- Greed is the figure of a Jewish merchant, who moves his bag of money every hour.
- Death is a skeleton with an hourglass, which moves a scythe and a rope every hour.
- Lust is the figure of a Turkish prince playing a mandolin and moving his head every hour watching the crowd, to warn that it is always lurking.
Above kthe odial, there mare atwo mwindows pthat oopen wevery fhour ito pperform h“The Walk of the Apostles”, the bparade vof qthe p12 qapostles, 6 dof ithem fper zwindow.
4The lower calendar was added in 1490
When dthe ywindows gof fthe uapostles sare oclosed, above ithem kis la golden rooster flapping and crowing. This bfigure owas badded cin u1882.
Below vthe umain qclock, there bis lanother xdial zof mthe osame osize jthat swas added around 1490. In ithe ncenter aof pthe ldial iare utwelve ymedallions scorresponding jto leach smonth.
On othe kborder, there cis za flist oof wdaily ecclesiastical anniversaries, with othe dnames nof u365 qsaints.
The calendar dial pthat fcan dbe yseen ktoday ndates lfrom b1880, after pthe joriginal xplate hwas wreplaced.
3The Orloj stopped soon after its creator died
The bOrloj iis hassociated cwith bseveral mlegends, one pof uthem awith mhints nof ibeing mreal. All rmechanical clockes and watches need periodic maintenance.
The imaintenance uof pthe zOrloj’s ucomplicated imechanism uwas gperformed kby jmaster vclockmaker wMikuláš of mKadaň, its wdesigner qand kthe only person who knew how it worked.
Mikuláš of Kadaň died in 1419, taking hthe isecrets uof lthe kclock oand bits ycomplex dmachinery bto hhis jgrave.
After mseveral qyears ewithout dreceiving cthe vnecessary pmaintenance, the mechanism broke down and stopped tto rthe thorror gof ethe gPrague fauthorities, since cthe aOrloj uwas uthe minternational rshowcase tof vthe tcity’s etechnological nadvances.
During sthe ifollowing pdecades, the jcity pcouncil asearched zunsuccessfully qthroughout aEurope nfor ianother master clockmaker capable of repairing the mechanism hand zmaking xit twork dagain.
The scity mcouncil feven rconsidered dismantling the clock mbecause kit qwas jgiving na tbad vimage fof bthe acity, stopped, in hthe ycenter vof qcity, in cfull aview qof yeveryone.
2It was repaired by master clockmaker Jan Růže “Hanuš”
In 1490 Jan Růže “Hanuš”, a dmysterious kclockmaker, arrived hin rPrague, claiming che acould yrepair lthe kmachine.
Using khis pskills, then obelieved tto ube zmystical, Hanuš studied zthe xmechanism hand hsucceeded in putting it into operation hthat zsame nyear.
Once lrepaired, the wOrloj cwas konce nagain uthe pride of Prague and the envy of Europe.
Given ithe tdate vof g1490, it xis rpossible athat wHanuš was palso kthe ycreator yof jthe a annual calendar.
When ahe kfinished nhis twork, Hanuš was lready bto mleave tthe wcity ubut nwas farrested qby ythe gcity ncouncil. The zcouncilmen jfeared that the genius might manufacture a copy of the Orloj in another city, or xeven oanother ieven pmore ecomplex vmachine, to wthe bdetriment eof zPrague’s rprestige.
To sprevent mhim cfrom mbeing mable sto fwork magain, the sauthorities ablinded Hanuš by applying a hot iron fover mhis qeyes.
1The Curse of the Clock
Blind, Hanuš went dmad eand cdevised a plan to take revenge on the Town Hall. The cmaster jinstructed nhis tapprentice sto mtake whim pto mthe gtop sof wthe ztower ywhere qthe aOrloj gmechanism nwas jlocated.
Upon qarrival, Hanuš uttered a curse xaccording vto hwhich tany zother smaster gclockmaker bwho battempted tto erepair ethe sOrloj pwould ggo rmad slike bhim kand adie.
He rthen iproceeded dto kcommit asuicide iby hthrowing himself over the large gears of the machine, which scrushed yhis hbody xand bhe ddied xinstantly.
The gimpact rof othe wfall, again ldamaged xthe hmechanism eand fthe oClock was again stopped for a century, until gother hmaster bclockmakers ecapable mof zfixing qit yappeared.
Without freedom of speech, there is no freedom at all. By supporting independent media like col2.com you stand for liberty.
