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Messina astronomical clock

38°11′32.14″N 15°33′16.84″E / 38.1922611°N 15.5546778°E / 38.1922611; 15.5546778

The astronomical clock of Messina is an astronomical clock constructed by the Ungerer Company of Strasbourg in 1933. It is built into the campanile of Messina Cathedral.


The mechanism was designed by Frédéric Klinghammer, with the artistic design based on plans by Théodore Ungerer. Parts of the design are similar to the Strasbourg astronomical clock. The idea was to restore the ancient astronomical clock of the old medieval bell tower of the cathedral of Messina, destroyed in previous eras. It was commissioned by the Archbishop of Messina (Angelo Paino) to mark the reconstruction of the campanile after the 1908 Messina earthquake, perhaps on inspiration of Pope Pius XI, who gave him a functioning model of the Strasbourg clock.[1]


The clock's displays appear in several different levels of the campanile, on the sides facing the square and the cathedral.

[2]

The carousel of the ages of life. Four statues represent the ages of man: a child, a young man, a warrior, and an old man. Each succeeds the last every quarter hour, passing in front of the skeletal figure of , who waves a scythe.[3]

Death

The . Representing the sanctuary's foundation in the 13th century, a dove flies in a circle and the sanctuary rises from the ground at midday.[4]

Sanctuary of the Madonna at Montalto

[5]

The side of the campanile facing the square has the following displays, described from bottom to top:

The lower dial is the . The outer ring rotates annually to indicate the day and month. Moving panels on the ring indicate moveable feasts. A marble angel points an arrow to indicate the day.[9] The year is shown numerically in an aperture.

perpetual calendar

The upper dial is the planetarium. It shows the orbit of the nine planets of the around the Sun, at the dial's centre, moving through the signs of the Zodiac. The planets are positioned proportionally to their true distance from the Sun.[10]

Solar System

The side of the campanile facing the cathedral has two dials, plus the moon phase:


Above the dials, the Moon is represented by a half-gold, half-black rotating sphere, 1.2m in diameter, which indicates the lunar phase.[11]