Sundial 814
- Dial City: Leisure City
- Dial State/Province: Florida
- Dial Country: USA
- Lat: 25° 30.020' N
- Dial Nr: 814
- Dial Type: Obelisk or Vertical Gnomon
- Dial Access: Public
- Lon: 80° 26.698' W
- Dial Owner: Coral Castle Park
- Dial Designer: Edward Leedskalnin
- Dial Maker: Edward Leedskalnin
- Dial Date: 1943
- Location:
- 28655 South Dixie Highway next to US 1 at the intersection with SW 157th Avenue Privately operated tourist attraction, open 8 am to 6 pm, 7 days a week. Admission is $15 adults, $12 seniors, $7 ages 7-12 and free if under 7.
- Description:
- Amid the many coral blocks (oolitic limestone rock) carved by eccentric Edward Leedskalnin (1887-1951) is a huge monolithic sundial. The gnomon is a horizontal L-shaped piece of iron fastened to the north corner of a limestone block about 8 feet high, weighing about 15 short-tons. Below the gnomon, carved into a second block of limestone is a portion of a hemisphere, smoothly filled in with concrete. Drawn on the hemisphere are analemma shaped hour and half-hour lines from 9am to 4pm. You can read the time with an accuracy of about two-minutes. The dial construction date is based on Leedskalnin book "Magnetic Current" published in 1945 which explains his interest in alignments of earth and moon and that his book is the culmination of two years of experiments with magnets and electricity.
- Dial Links:
- http://coralcastle.com
- Other References:
- YouTube videos of the dial can be found at:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2mX87fJv9E
- (the analemma is described with great mystery. Obviously the videographer does not know the basics about gnomonic sundials)
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzeq4e_jky8
- (this video shows the basic sundial, but many of the comments are pseudo-science)
Last Update:
2016-01-07 12:34