Sundials of the Clarée

Some of the finest examples of painted sundials in the Hautes-Alpes are to be found in Clarée. Take a stroll between La Vachette and Névache-Ville-Haute to admire them.

Description

There are around thirty sundials on the facades of houses in the valley. Whether modern or antique, they all have a special story to tell through their varied decorations, ranging from neo-classical to rococo, exotic or floral.

But what is a sundial?
It's made up of a time table, where the hours are inscribed, and a style or gnomon, which gave rise to the word "gnomonic". The style is a metal rod inserted into the wall, whose shadow on the hour table allows the solar time to be read.

Each hamlet in the valley has its own sundial - it's up to you to find them!

In La Vachette :
- The Mallinier "Vita fugit sicut umbra" sundial, 1840.
- Barthelemy sundial "La vita es gaïro. Un ris, un souffle, un pleur", 1852

Au Rosier :
- Le refuge double dial: One bearing "Ad Solem vertitur umbra", 1740 and the other "Forte Tua", 1932.
- Voiron dial "Depuis le soleil jusqu'à l'ombre , Voiron", 1815.
- Les Airelles sundial "Obliviscere malarum profer optima", 1997.

In Val-des-Prés :
- Zarbula sundial "Without the sun I am nothing and you without God you can do nothing", 1843.
- Republican sundial with flags, 1881.
- Val-des-Prés school sundial "Your notebook opens and you discover the world", 1998.
- Maison Alphand "N'en perds aucune" sundial, 1990.
- Town hall sundial "Liberté, égalité, fraternité", 2006.

Plampinet :
- Bellet house sundial "Ora ne te fallat hora", 1869.
- Saint-Sébastien church sundial "Remember your last hour and you will never sin", 1823.
- Honey factory sundial, 1985
- Maison Maquet sundial "Where there's a will, there's a way", 2007.

Ville-Haute :
- Maison Rochas "MDCCLXXXV CR".
- La Bélière, "S.C L.C", 1885
- Church sundial, "Vita Fugit sicut umbra", restored in 1991.
- Maison Maritan, "Vale Hora", 1988.
- Old school dial (nevasport): "A B C D E ..... 1 2 3 4 5 ...", 1991.

Ville Basse / Le Cros :
- Old school sundial "Il n'y a pas d'heure pour apprendre", 1991.
- Maison Arduin (Le Cros): "Pensons souvent à notre heure dernière".

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Animals

Pets allowed : Yes