"Z" is for Zodiac

This is Day 26 for the

Blogging from A to Z Challenge

for 2013.

We've made it to the end of the alphabet, and the letter "Z" which is for zodiac. The twelve astrological signs of the zodiac have appeared in art for centuries.


In Venice, the gold signs of the zodiac run counter-clockwise on the blue face of the astronomical clock on the Clock Tower in St. Mark's Square. They are surrounded by the 24 hours of the day in Roman numerals engraved in the white marble. This clock dates from the early Renaissance. 

Astronomical Clock, Venice

At the top of the clock tower, two bronze figures sound the hour by striking a bell. Below them stands the winged lion of Venice in front of a blue background with gold stars. And just above the clock the two blue panels display the current time, with the hour shown on the left in Roman numerals and the minutes on the right in Arabic numerals.

The Clock Tower, St. Mark's Square

St. Mark's Square, Venice

In France, workers at the 12th century St. Philibert Abbey in Tournus uncovered a Romanesque mosaic pavement in the ambulatory which depicts the signs of the zodiac.

St. Philibert Abbey, Tournus

Interior of St. Philibert Abbey

A metal catwalk is in place to allow visitors to view the mosaics without damaging them. The signs of Gemini (the twins) and Cancer (the crab) appear in the photos below.

Gemini, the Twins

Cancer, the Crab

And this bring us to the end of the A-Z April Blog Challenge for 2013! Thank you to all of you who visited Destination: Fiction during the challenge. I hope you enjoyed the posts.

A list of all my topics from A-Z (and their links) can be found here.