The Astronomical Clock - Prague

The astronomical clock was incorporated into the structure of the Old Town Hall in 1490. The clock must have been a fantastic technological achievement for the age. So much so that - as legend has it, the timepiece's maker, Master Hanus, was deliberately blinded by the local council in an attempt to stop him from building a similar clock elsewhere in Europe. By way of revenge, Hanus is said to have returned to the clock tower, whereupon he duly tossed a spanner in the works, damaging it so severely that it didn't work for over one hundred years.

A more likely (but less interesting) account is that the clock's creators were a Professor Sindel from the University of Prague and Mr. Mikoláš from Kada? - men who both specialised in the calculation of astronomical movements during the early 14th century. Their original plans, which are said to have included a far from perfect mechanism were only properly completed after being rectified by Jan Táborský some 140 years later.

Aside from showing the phases of the moon, the sun, planets and starsmoving around the earth, the clock's most famous element is the upper section, added in 1865. At the top of each hour, a unique ritual occurs in which decorative figures of the twelve apostles move from left to right below the clock face while a skeletal figure (Death) pulls a rope in time to the chimes. The spectacle ends - to much applause and laughter - as the mechanical cock crows.

Underneath, the clock's painted calendar - created by the revered Czech artist Joseph Manes in 1870 - shows the signs of the zodiac, saints' days and the monthly labours of peasant folk.