Relojes solares en la provincia de Salamanca

Abstract

The sundials in Salamanca are concentrated on a strip of land that runs from north to south along the eastern part of the province, with three main nuclei pertaining to the regions of Sierra, Campo Charro and Campiñas. The quadrants belong to the different types: horizontal, vertical and polyhedral. The vertical ones are the most frequent and within this category, the order of frequency is de following: oriented toward the south, declining to the east and declining to the west. The lithologies on wich the quadrants are carved coincide with the rocks of the geologic regional substrate, wich is a common characteristic of the set of quadrants of each region. The shape, the properties and the elements that constitute the clocks present a large variety, which is different even within each zone. Likewise, the degree of conservation of these sundials is also varied. The set of sundials is representative of the eighteenth century, according to the dating criteria that consist of the construction dates of the buildings in wich they were placed and the characteristics of the arabic digits that mark the hours.