The Sundial square was built in 1986, commemorating 750 birthday of Šiauliai city.
Location for the new architectural ensemble was chosen between the old part of the city, the Catholic cemetery and Talkša Lake.
The design of the Sundial square was prepared by Šiauliai architects R. Jūrėla, A. Višniūnas and A. Černiauskas, the sculpture of “The Archer” was created by sculptor S. Kuzma. The main idea of the square is to give a sense to the three most important symbols of Šiauliai city: the Sun, remembering the Battle of the Sun, which took place in Šiauliai land, the archer (lit.- Šaulys), associated with the origin of the name of the city, and time that has passed since the day when the name of the city was mentioned for the first time.
The architectural ensemble consists of the amphitheatre-shaped square and 18 metres high obelisk, crowned with the sculpture of the running archer.
On a sunny day, this obelisk turns into the gnomon: casting the shadow of the Sun, moving around the dial face with infused metal numbers (12, 3 and 6), it shows local time of the geographical latitude. It is the highest sundial in Lithuania. At midday, the shadow of the gnomon points to the arbour resembling the ancient temple, located close to the cemetery wall, built from boulders.
On August 29th, 2013, after renovation the sculpture “The Archer”, symbolising the city of Šiauliai, often by Šiauliai residents referred to as the golden boy or the small archer, was returned to its usual place, the Sundial square. The four-meter-high sculpture was covered with 1900 gold foil sheets, thickness of which is just a few microns.
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