Year 2007

Sundial of the month March

Another gigantic sundial

Tavel, France

Along the motorway A9 in the south of France, between Orange and Nīmes, at the Tavel car park, an object approximately 18 meters tall rises above the woods.
A set of four more or less upright plates, which seem to support each other, constitute the dial faces for three sundials.
The hour lines on these sundials are done in relief.
Two separate, leaning, pyramidal bodies serve as pole styles for the three sundials.

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As if this were not enough, there are two horizontal sundials in the pavement around the gnomons.
Around it all there are small columns with descriptions and examples of other sundials.

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From the photographs, it is not easy to visualize the structure. But with the help of the two figures below, printed (perhaps enlarged) on heavy paper, a simplified model may be built.

The first figure shows the placement of the four sundial faces on the horizontal plane. The second figure shows cut-outs for the four dial faces.
Fold these along the lines marked with small arrows, and glue them along strips A-D on the correspondingly marked ground plan.
At the two small circles, make a 44-degree pole style out of thread.

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Fer de Vries

Name of the object: La Nef Solaire
Construction year: 1993
Coordinates: 44.0013N, 4.7007E
Principal: Autoroutes du Sud de la France
Sculpture design: Odile Mir
Gnomonic calculations: Denis Savoie

English translation: RH