Description
Chatillon and Saint-Vincent are characterised by a significant and interesting urban detail
In fact, there are various sun dials (some of fine workmanship) scattered through the settlements. This important tool, which indicates the time of day depending on the inclination of sunlight, has attracted the attention of observers. Pupils at Chatillon’s secondary school have dedicated themselves to the creation of the sundial installed on the terrace of the District Library.
The instrument in question has the particular feature of being Valle d’Aosta’s first horizontal analemmatic sundial; it uses the azimuthal angle for the time and was completed with technical assistance of the gnomonist Luigi Massimo Ghia, and local authority funding. Additional technical assistance was provided by Riccardo Anselmi, a noted watchmaker from Valley.
This analemmatic solar clock was defined as horizontal since it consists of a central area and an ellipse where the hours are placed. The central part is divided in to different areas, corresponding to the four seasons, further divided on every 10th day to enable the efficient reading of the time indicated Would you like to try? Stand on the date: your shadow will indicate the time thanks to the combination of solar rays, therefore the solar (natural) time.
