If walking by Roma you will feel like you are inside a fairy tale, in all likelihood you will find yourself in front of the wonderful and ancient water clock of Villa Borghese. A nineteenth-century jewel that, at first glance, looks like an ordinary watch. But it actually works thanks to the flow of water, placing itself as a small engineering masterpiece. As well as a real one unicum in Italy.
Everything you need to know about the Villa Borghese water clock
Positioned on rocks, inside a small lake, the water clock of Villa Borghese (or Pincio clock) was designed and built by John the Baptist Embraco. A Ligurian Dominican friar with a passion for watchmaking and engineering, Embriaco collaborated with the Swiss architect Joachim Ersoch, who took care of creating the right setting that surrounds the clock. It was their synergy that created this corner of the park. A place capable of transmitting a unique and enchanted atmosphere, and of transporting to an indefinite time. Although made in 1867, the ancient clock was placed inside the Roman park only in 1873. Embriaco had in fact to fight against the Catholic institutions, which did not look favorably on the new scientific advances. And to think that a few years earlier (in 1870), at the Universal Exhibition in Paris, the fantastic hydro-clock even garnered the praise of Napoleon III.
Surrounded by palm trees, the ancient water clock is almost hidden and difficult to notice. However, the water that acts as the engine for the functioning of the mechanism attracts attention. Considered one of the greatest treasures of Villa Borghese, it is not actually the only “secret” kept by the park. They are in fact different points of interest which can be visited inside, from the Borghese Gallery with the works of Raphael, Titian and Canova, up to Globe Theater, a theater that repeatedly hosts fantastic shows.
Featured photo from Wikipedia (credit Elena Petrolati - CC BY-SA 4.0)
