A guidebook to the old customs of measuring time in the heartland of Transylvania, Romania

From very long ago until a not-so-distant past, humans assessed time subjectively, by the length of their own shadows or the position of the sun relative to the buildings or objects around them. People then invented the sundial to better measure time according to the sun. Now there are about 200 sundials in Romania – Cluj County has about 20. Featuring close-up colour photographs, this book presents their history and locations using QR coded GPS coordinates and tips for easy access.

About the author

Dan-George Uza (b. 1984) is a Cluj native who is passionate about astronomy, ethnography, and especially gnomonics – the science of sundials. He has published several articles on these subjects, as well as two books and an annual series of astronomical sundial calendars.

Contents

Measuring time by the sun

The first sundials

Old sundials in Cluj-Napoca

Old sundials near Cluj-Napoca

Some new sundials

Can you tell the time?

Pseudo sundials and other local curiosities

Regarding the orientation of some Cluj churches

Traces of an old sundial on St. Michael’s Church in Cluj -Napoca

Sulița – the spear: an old Romanian unit of time measurement

A practical method for constructing a sundial

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