On 21 December 2005, Prime Minister J.P. Balkenende and Mayor mrs. G. ter Horst unveiled the ‘Column of the Gods’ of Nijmegen amid great public interest.
It was a cloudy and somewhat dull day, but the column looks fine, and is really an asset to the old Roman city of Nijmegen.
The base is a bronze replica of stone fragments, excavated in 1980, of the original Roman column.
The remainder of the column is built with black marble slabs.
On top is a tortoise, the shadow of which inches across the square.
Whoever crosses its path may expect good fortune.
There is a sundial aspect to this work of art.
The shadow of the top of the column indicates temporal hours in spring and summer.
There are gold-coloured hour markers, the same size as the paving stones, in the square.
They are comparatively small and one must really look for them.
Each marker shows the appropriate sign of the Zodiac and, in antique font, the corresponding hour.
The example shows the signs of Gemini and Leo; it is the end of the fourth temporal hour.
The large blocks around the base of the column serve only for protection against damage by vehicles.
Although gnomonically not perfect, we do have here a public sundial reading temporal time. It reminds one of the (hypothetical) sundial of Emperor Augustus, which is only fitting for the 2000-year old city of Nijmegen.