Magic timekeeper
A clock – can you imagine a life without one? With work that starts at 7 am, with bus that leaves at 15.37 and your mum you have to call before 10 pm. I don’t think so…from the very beginning mankind had to measure time. Starting from sundialas, through hourglasses and water clocks in every century there were less or more complicated mechanisms that were able to measure minutes, hours, days. Throughout the ages timekeeper mechanisms have changed a lot, from water drops and sand which passage through small hole indicated defined period of time, to famous Swedish, precise, tiny, super-modern watches.In the history of timekeepers there are also some unique examples like a water clock (or more accurate hydro chronometer) hidden in Rome’s famous park – Villa Borghese. Walking among gardens of the noble Roman family Borghese, apart from romantic temples, tiny lakes and charming sculptures you’ll find one strange clock. Why strange? Because instead of the normal system you’ll see that what makes pendulum oscillate is …water! Liquid drops fill up alternately two bowels, which makes the mechanism work and triggers the bell. This tricky device was invented in solitude of Minevra convent in a private clockmaker’s laboratory of father Giovanni B. Embriaco.
Water clock in its first version was sent for an Expo of Paris in 1867, where it received many prizes for the best invention. Since that time only one more water clock was created in Rome.
The magic timekeeper works for over 150 years in Villa Borghese, where you can come and check how not only sun can indicate time. Rome is full of secrets and this is one of them. Romans says that not even 2 lives would be enough to see everything in the Ethernal City. Come and check on your own!
