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Tower of the Winds
 
 
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The Tower of the Winds, also called horologion
Horologion

The Horologion , or Book of Hours, provides the Acolouthia of the Daily Cycle of services as used by the Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Churches churches....
 (timepiece), is an octagonal Penteli
Penteli

Pent?li or Pendeli, is a tall mountain and mountain range situated northeast of Athens and southwest of Marathon, Greece. Its elevation is 1,109 m....
c marble
Marble

Marble is a nonfoliated metamorphic rock resulting from the metamorphism of limestone, composed mostly of calcite . It is extensively used for Marble sculpture, as a architecture material, and in many other applications....
 clocktower on the Roman
Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC....
 agora
Agora

The Agora was an open "place of assembly" in ancient Ancient Greece city-states. Early in Greek history , free-born male land-owners who were citizens would gather in the agora for military duty or to hear statements of the ruling king or council....
 in Athens
Athens

Athens , the Capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery; as one of the List of cities by time of continuous habitation, its recorded history spans around 3,400 years....
. The structure features a combination of sundial
Sundial

A sundial is a device that measures time by the position of the Sun. In common designs such as the horizontal sundial, the sun casts a shadow from its style onto a flat surface marked with lines indicating the hours of the day....
s, a water clock
Water clock

A water clock or clepsydra is any timekeeper operated by means of a regulated flow of liquid into or out from a vessel where the amount is then measured....
 and a wind vane. It was supposedly built by Andronicus of Cyrrhus
Andronicus of Cyrrhus

Andronicus of Cyrrhus or Andronicus Cyrrhestes,son of Hermias, was a Greece astronomer who flourished about 100 BC.He built a horologium at Athens, the so-called Tower of the Winds, a considerable portion of which still exists....
 around 50 BC, but according to other sources might have been constructed in the 2nd century BC before the rest of the forum
Forum (Roman)

The Forum was the public space in the middle of a Ancient Rome city.A gathering place of great social significance, it was often the scene of diverse activities, including political discussions, meetings, et cetera....
.

12 m tall structure has a diameter
Diameter

In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the center of the circle and whose endpoints are on the circle....
 of about 8 m and was topped in antiquity by a weathervane-like Triton that indicated the wind
Anemoi

In Greek mythology mythology, the Anemoi were wind gods who were each ascribed a cardinal direction, from which their respective winds came, and were each associated with various seasons and weather conditions....
 direction.






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Tower of the Winds
The Tower of the Winds, also called horologion
Horologion

The Horologion , or Book of Hours, provides the Acolouthia of the Daily Cycle of services as used by the Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Churches churches....
 (timepiece), is an octagonal Penteli
Penteli

Pent?li or Pendeli, is a tall mountain and mountain range situated northeast of Athens and southwest of Marathon, Greece. Its elevation is 1,109 m....
c marble
Marble

Marble is a nonfoliated metamorphic rock resulting from the metamorphism of limestone, composed mostly of calcite . It is extensively used for Marble sculpture, as a architecture material, and in many other applications....
 clocktower on the Roman
Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC....
 agora
Agora

The Agora was an open "place of assembly" in ancient Ancient Greece city-states. Early in Greek history , free-born male land-owners who were citizens would gather in the agora for military duty or to hear statements of the ruling king or council....
 in Athens
Athens

Athens , the Capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery; as one of the List of cities by time of continuous habitation, its recorded history spans around 3,400 years....
. The structure features a combination of sundial
Sundial

A sundial is a device that measures time by the position of the Sun. In common designs such as the horizontal sundial, the sun casts a shadow from its style onto a flat surface marked with lines indicating the hours of the day....
s, a water clock
Water clock

A water clock or clepsydra is any timekeeper operated by means of a regulated flow of liquid into or out from a vessel where the amount is then measured....
 and a wind vane. It was supposedly built by Andronicus of Cyrrhus
Andronicus of Cyrrhus

Andronicus of Cyrrhus or Andronicus Cyrrhestes,son of Hermias, was a Greece astronomer who flourished about 100 BC.He built a horologium at Athens, the so-called Tower of the Winds, a considerable portion of which still exists....
 around 50 BC, but according to other sources might have been constructed in the 2nd century BC before the rest of the forum
Forum (Roman)

The Forum was the public space in the middle of a Ancient Rome city.A gathering place of great social significance, it was often the scene of diverse activities, including political discussions, meetings, et cetera....
.

Site

The 12 m tall structure has a diameter
Diameter

In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the center of the circle and whose endpoints are on the circle....
 of about 8 m and was topped in antiquity by a weathervane-like Triton that indicated the wind
Anemoi

In Greek mythology mythology, the Anemoi were wind gods who were each ascribed a cardinal direction, from which their respective winds came, and were each associated with various seasons and weather conditions....
 direction. Below the frieze
Frieze

In architecture the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain or?in the Ionic order or Corinthian order?decorated with bas-reliefs....
 depicting the eight wind deities — Boreas
Anemoi

In Greek mythology mythology, the Anemoi were wind gods who were each ascribed a cardinal direction, from which their respective winds came, and were each associated with various seasons and weather conditions....
 (N), Kaikias
Anemoi

In Greek mythology mythology, the Anemoi were wind gods who were each ascribed a cardinal direction, from which their respective winds came, and were each associated with various seasons and weather conditions....
 (NE), Eurus
Anemoi

In Greek mythology mythology, the Anemoi were wind gods who were each ascribed a cardinal direction, from which their respective winds came, and were each associated with various seasons and weather conditions....
 (E), Apeliotes
Anemoi

In Greek mythology mythology, the Anemoi were wind gods who were each ascribed a cardinal direction, from which their respective winds came, and were each associated with various seasons and weather conditions....
 (SE), Notus
Anemoi

In Greek mythology mythology, the Anemoi were wind gods who were each ascribed a cardinal direction, from which their respective winds came, and were each associated with various seasons and weather conditions....
 (S), Livas
Anemoi

In Greek mythology mythology, the Anemoi were wind gods who were each ascribed a cardinal direction, from which their respective winds came, and were each associated with various seasons and weather conditions....
 (SW), Zephyrus
Anemoi

In Greek mythology mythology, the Anemoi were wind gods who were each ascribed a cardinal direction, from which their respective winds came, and were each associated with various seasons and weather conditions....
 (W), and Skiron
Anemoi

In Greek mythology mythology, the Anemoi were wind gods who were each ascribed a cardinal direction, from which their respective winds came, and were each associated with various seasons and weather conditions....
 (NW) — there are eight sundial
Sundial

A sundial is a device that measures time by the position of the Sun. In common designs such as the horizontal sundial, the sun casts a shadow from its style onto a flat surface marked with lines indicating the hours of the day....
s. In its interior, there was a water clock
Water clock

A water clock or clepsydra is any timekeeper operated by means of a regulated flow of liquid into or out from a vessel where the amount is then measured....
 (or clepsydra), driven by water coming down from the Acropolis. Recent research has shown that the considerable height of the tower was motivated by the intention to place the sundials and the wind-vane at a visible height on the Agora, making it effectively an early example of a clocktower. According to the testimony of Vitruvius
Vitruvius

File:Vitruvius.jpgMarcus Vitruvius Pollio was a Ancient Rome writer, architect and engineer , active in the 1st century BC. By his own description Vitruvius served as a Ballista , the third class of arms in the military offices....
 and Varro
Marcus Terentius Varro

Marcus Terentius Varro , also known as Varro Reatinus to distinguish him from his younger contemporary Varro Atacinus, was a Ancient Rome scholar and writer....
, Andronicus of Cyrrhus designed the structure.

In early Christian
Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism#Christian view religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus and interpreted by Christians to have been prophesied in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament....
 times, the building was used as the bell tower of a Byzantine Church. It was partly buried in the ground until it was fully excavated in the 19th century by the Archaeological Society of Athens
Archaeological Society of Athens

The Archaeological Society of Athens is a branch of the Greece's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Also termed the Greek Archaeological Society, it was founded in 1837, just a few years after the establishment of the Greek State, with the aim of encouraging archaeological excavations, maintenance, care and exhibition of antiquities in Greec...
.

The design of the 18th-century Radcliffe Observatory
Radcliffe Observatory

Radcliffe Observatory was the observatory of Oxford University from 1773 until 1934, when the Radcliffe Trustees sold it and erected a new observatory in Pretoria, South Africa...
 in Oxford
Oxford

Oxford is a City status in the United Kingdom, and the county town of Oxfordshire, in South East England. It has a population of 151,000. The rivers River Cherwell and River Thames run through Oxford and meet south of the city centre....
, England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
, is based on the Tower of the Winds, as is the mausoleum
Mausoleum

A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or persons....
 of the founder of the Greek National Library
National Library of Greece

The National Library of Greece is situated near the center of city of Athens. It was designed by the Danish architect Theophil Freiherr von Hansen, as part of his famous Trilogy of neo-classical buildings including the Academy of Athens and the original building of the National and Capodistrian University of Athens....
 Panayis Vagliano
Panayis Athanase Vagliano

Panayis Athanase Vagliano Romanization of Greek Panaghis Athanassiou Vallianos, was a merchant and shipowner, acclaimed as the 'father of modern Greek shipping'....
 at West Norwood Cemetery
West Norwood Cemetery

West Norwood Cemetery is a cemetery in West Norwood in the London Borough of Lambeth in London, England.By 2000 there had been 164,000 burials in 42,000 plots, plus 34,000 cremations and several thousand interments in its catacombs ....
, London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
. It has also inspired the 15th century Torre del Marzocco in Livorno
Livorno

Livorno or Leghorn is a port city on the Tyrrhenian Sea on the western edge of Tuscany, Italy. It is the Capital of the Province of Livorno and the third-largest port on the western coast of Italy, having a population of approximately 170,000 residents as of the year 2007....
. There is a similar tower in Sevastopol
Sevastopol

Sevastopol is a port in Ukraine, located on the Black Sea coast of the Crimea peninsula. It has a population of 342,451 . The city, formerly the home of the Soviet Union Black Sea Fleet, is now a Ukrainian naval base mutually used by the Ukrainian Navy and Russian Navy....
, built in 1849.

See also

  • Antikythera mechanism
    Antikythera mechanism

    The Antikythera mechanism , is an ancient mechanical calculator designed to calculate astronomy positions. It was discovered in the Antikythera wreck off the Greece island of Antikythera, between Kythera and Crete, in 1901....


Further reading

  • Joseph V. Noble; Derek J. de Solla Price: The Water Clock in the Tower of the Winds, American Journal of Archaeology
    American Journal of Archaeology

    The American Journal of Archaeology is the journal of the Archaeological Institute of America. Featuring articles about Middle Eastern, Classical antiquity, and other varied archaeological disciplines, the AJA has been published since 1897 ....
    , Vol. 72, No. 4 (1968), pp. 345-355


External links