Friuli Night

Winter stars, from Sirius (left) to constellation Orion and Taurus, and to the Pleiades or Seven Sister star cluster (right end) shine above the western horizon of Aiello del Friuli, a traditional village in north east Italy. Known as the village of sundials, there are about 70 (and increasing) beautiful and artwork sundials in this small area, which one of them is photographed here on the wall of a traditional house. Each year in mid-spring Aiello’s sundial festival attract people from the region to celebrate the opening of the new sundials. A special attraction is the “Courtyard of sundials” where this photograph is made. There are over a dozen sundials of various designs in the yard, including a model of an ancient Roman sundial visible at the left far side of this view. Aiello is situated about 25 km southeast of Udine, the capital of Friuli.