Friday, December 10, 2010

Strange Clock

Wind rose, Villa Maria, LivornoMy friend Stefano is following some restoration works in “Villa Maria”, so we were able to climb on top of its tower. From up there we had a great view over the park and over some private gardens nearby, once part of the villa itself.
In one of these gardens we saw this strange device, dated 1873. It is a wind rose with marked the initials of all the major winds:

P “Ponente”
M “Maestrale” (Mistral)
T “Tramontana” (Tramontane)
G “Grecale” (Gregale)
L “Levante”
S “Scirocco” (Siroco)
M “Mezzogiorno” (Ostro)
L “Libeccio”

Wind rose, Villa Maria, LivornoThe dial is driven by a weather vane, which we have already seen in detail during one of my walks.

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19 comments:

  1. Traveling HawkDecember 10, 2010 at 12:09 AM

    This clock is very interesting, VP! I have never seen something like this. Thanks for sharing with us this piece of information.

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  2. Luis GomezDecember 10, 2010 at 12:11 AM

    This is a really nice post VP. Like Jacob I had never seen one like this.

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  3. JimDecember 10, 2010 at 12:12 AM

    That is fascinating.

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  4. Luis GomezDecember 10, 2010 at 12:12 AM

    Meant to say like Traveling Hawk.

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  5. Stefan JanssonDecember 10, 2010 at 12:55 AM

    A very unique clock, I have never seen anything like it before. I'm very glad that Stefano lets you tag along to these places!

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  6. AnonymousDecember 10, 2010 at 2:49 AM

    May a mistery. Thank you for this escape into time during the middle of the night. Please have a good Friday.

    daily athens

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  7. MichelleDecember 10, 2010 at 3:07 AM

    This clock is new to me as well, but quite intriguing I must say.

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  8. RandyDecember 10, 2010 at 4:48 AM

    This is very interesting post indeed.

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  9. JackDecember 10, 2010 at 5:02 AM

    Quite unusual, VP. I haven't seen anything like it.

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  10. cieldequimperDecember 10, 2010 at 7:20 AM

    Oh fantastic. Thanks to your friend.

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  11. DinaDecember 10, 2010 at 9:00 AM

    How cool is that!

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  12. jooDecember 10, 2010 at 10:19 AM

    It's fantastic and a bit mysterious! Superb post!

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  13. KaoriDecember 10, 2010 at 11:53 AM

    what a interesting find! I've definitely never seen this before ;-D

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  14. brattcatDecember 10, 2010 at 1:31 PM

    A wind clock...how very wonderful. Thank you!

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  15. Cezar and LéiaDecember 10, 2010 at 4:28 PM

    I'm delighted here, I love old clocks!
    Léia

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  16. UnknownDecember 11, 2010 at 2:00 PM

    Really interesting. Never seen this before.

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  17. EG CameraGirlDecember 11, 2010 at 2:39 PM

    What a treat to have friend doing work that allows you to take your camera.

    I've never seen a wind rose such as this before. I wonder if it's still functional after all these years.

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  18. Babzy.BDecember 13, 2010 at 8:29 AM

    never seen a clock like this one before !

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  19. FranciscaDecember 15, 2010 at 5:55 PM

    What a fascinating wind rose! Does it work still?

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