The village of Rupelmonde, just south of Antwerp on the bank of the Scheldt river, is a must for sundial buffs. The famous cartographer Mercator (1512-1594) was born here. His statue overlooks Mercator Square, in the center of the village.Sundials
Sundial Trail, Rupelmonde (Belgium)
The village of Rupelmonde, just south of Antwerp on the bank of the Scheldt river, is a must for sundial buffs. The famous cartographer Mercator (1512-1594) was born here. His statue overlooks Mercator Square, in the center of the village.
1994 (the 400th anniversary of his death) saw a project to set many sundials in Rupelmonde, in public places as well as in people's gardens and on their walls. A nice display of community spirit! There are now some 25 of them.
The project also led to the founding of the Flemish Sundial Society in 1995. Project management: Julien Lyssens.
Whether or not you will be able to stop by Rupelmonde shortly, you should visit the excellent website Rupelmonde, the sundial village by Veerle Heyman and Jozef Pauwels. A dozen of the nicest dials is displayed there and information is provided in three languages. Consider the two objects on this page merely as an appetizer for their site.
In case you come and visit, you may want to buy the brochure at the Tourist Office (in Dutch), which has an itinerary for the walking tour.
During your trip you will discern a certain steering: all dials read local time. No hassle with civil time or daylight saving time, no double or triple hour scales. And no messing around with the equation of time, like should it be added, or perhaps subtracted. Nice and convenient!
Equatorial dial, Gerard De Cremerstraat
This armillary sphere is set in the parking area of GB Super. It is one of my favorites. Perhaps it is not all that vandal-proof, but still... No superfluous rings, and look at that hour band, one seldom sees one so transparent!
The hours run from VI to VI (18) hr. The red marks on the upper ring are for the hours, the blue ones below for the half-hours.
The base plate reads the name of the village, coordinates, type of dial and a compass rose. The sides have the points of the compass. The mounting of the dial onto the base needs improvement; it can be turned too easily now, as you may note.
Location: 51.1° N, 4.3° E
Design: ?
Inauguration: ca. 1996
Sundial?? Kattenberm Green
It is certain spherical and it does have a lot of rings, but that in itself does not make it a sundial. The ironware concentrated in the center makes it kind of interesting, though...
Location: 51.1° N, 4.3° E
Design: Julien Lyssens, Rupelmonde
Inauguration: 1994
Website: Rupelmonde, the sundial village by Veerle Heyman and Jozef Pauwels
Website: Flemish Sundial Society