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The Zytturm is a 13th-century tower in
The astronomical clock on the eastern side of the tower was installed in 1574. Underneath the clockface, the calendar dial has four hands:
* The arrow indicates the day of the week on the inner ring of the dial, on which the days of the week are represented by their Germanic deities and astrological signs, with Sunday at the top. The arrow in the photo points to Venus/Friday.
* The crescent moon indicates the
The Zytturm is a 13th-century tower in Zug
Zug (Standard German: , Alemannic German: ; ; ; ; )Named in the 16th century. is the largest List of cities in Switzerland, town and capital of the Swiss canton of Zug. Zug is renowned as a hub for some of the wealthiest individuals in the wor ...
, Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
, which houses an astronomical clock
An astronomical clock, horologium, or orloj is a clock with special mechanisms and dials to display astronomical information, such as the relative positions of the Sun, Moon, zodiacal constellations, and sometimes major planets.
Definition ...
. The tower, which is 52 metres high, is located on Kolinplatz in the old town centre.
The tower was constructed in the 13th century, then heightened between 1478 and 1480, taking its current form in 1557. The tower's last major renovation was in 1952. It is listed as being of National and Regional Significance, along with the city walls and other towers.
Astronomical clock
The astronomical clock on the eastern side of the tower was installed in 1574. Underneath the clockface, the calendar dial has four hands:
* The arrow indicates the day of the week on the inner ring of the dial, on which the days of the week are represented by their Germanic deities and astrological signs, with Sunday at the top. The arrow in the photo points to Venus/Friday.
* The crescent moon indicates the lunar phase
A lunar phase or Moon phase is the apparent shape of the Moon's directly sunlit portion as viewed from the Earth. Because the Moon is tidally locked with the Earth, the same hemisphere is always facing the Earth. In common usage, the four maj ...
, pointing upwards at the new moon and downwards at the full moon. The moon hand in the photo indicates a waxing quarter moon, matching the globe above the clock.
* The sun indicates the sign of the zodiac
The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north and south celestial latitude of the ecliptic – the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. Within this zodiac ...
on the outer ring of the dial, starting with Capricorn at bottom (between 6 and 7 o'clock) for January. The sun hand in the photo points to Gemini/June.
* The S hand indicates the leap year
A leap year (also known as an intercalary year or bissextile year) is a calendar year that contains an additional day (or, in the case of a lunisolar calendar, a month) compared to a common year. The 366th day (or 13th month) is added to keep t ...
(''Schaltjahr'' in German), completing a cycle every four years, pointing downwards at the start of a leap year.
Above the clockface, a rotating gold and black globe indicates the phase of the moon.
Canton shields
On the eastern side of the tower, below the clock, are displayed the coats of arms of the which comprised theOld Swiss Confederacy
The Old Swiss Confederacy, also known as Switzerland or the Swiss Confederacy, was a loose confederation of independent small states (, German or ), initially within the Holy Roman Empire. It is the precursor of the modern state of Switzerlan ...
from 1353 to 1481.
References
External links
* {{Astronomical clocks Clock towers in Switzerland Astronomical clocks in Switzerland Zug Buildings and structures in the canton of Zug