Figueira da Foz · PT

Relógio de Sol

On the riverside square of Praça da Europa, where the Mondego meets Figueira da Foz's old port, stands one of the city's most photographed sculptures: a colossal sundial whose shadow tells the hour. Far from a quaint garden ornament, it is a piece of monumental land art built around a 10-metre steel 'sail' that rises like the rigging of a caravel over a marble dial laid into the pavement. Installed in 1986 as the centrepiece of the landscaped square, the Relógio de Sol was made to measure the day using nothing but the sun and a shadow. It is open around the clock in a public space, free to reach, and remains a favourite stop for visitors combining the harbour, the river mouth and the city's bathing-beach heritage.