Astronomical clock!

A highlight of Prague is the central town square. It is one of the old European varieties: lots of old stone buildings, a big church, and outdoor cafes as far as the eye can see. It had one feature that was very impressive to me: a very large, very intricate astronomical clock.

This clock can do amazing things and do so beautifully. It tells the time of both sunrise and sunset everyday. It also shares the lunar calendar. And that's just the top clock. The bottom has a 365 day calendar with the saints for each day prominently called out. And there are four figurines on the top, representing Vanity, Greed, Death, and Foreign Invasion. These are balanced by the four figurines on the bottom, the Chronicler, the Angel, the Astronomer, and the Philosopher. Finally, at the top of each hour, the twelve Apostles appear in the two small blue windows, each carrying a representative item. Meanwhile, Death, the skeleton, rings his bell and flips his hourglass.

Neatest of all is that this was built back in the 15th Century. Quite impressive technology to do all of the above!