Updates
4. September 2026.
ONE OF THESE IS YOUR LAST!
With these words, from the facade of the Parish Hall building in Sombor, the sundial reminds us to remember our own transience. And experts from the Provincial Institute have made sure that the clock itself does not strike its last hour. The Baroque building of the Parish Palace, a former Franciscan monastery, was built in 1749. On the southern facade of this building there is a sundial made in 1852, whose creator was professor and passionate astronomer Jovan Čokor. The clock is the only preserved landmark of its kind in Serbia. Painted after the example of many sundials of the time, it has Baroque elements, an image of the Archangel Gabriel who, according to tradition, brings the destiny given by God at the moment of birth, a rooster as a symbol of a new day and a human skull as a symbol of the moment of death. The picture is written in Serbian and Hungarian: ONE OF THESE IS YOUR LAST! EGY EZEKBŐL VÉGÓRÁD! Legend has it that Professor Čokor wrote the words as a sign of revenge on the people of Sombor for expelling him from the city. The sundial outlived its creator, but it itself almost became an example of transience. Exposed to atmospheric influences, it had to be restored several times during its history. It was saved from the clutches of ephemerality by the Provincial Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments Petrovaradin in 2013. Zoran Barišić, a painter-conservator as the project manager, and external collaborator Bojan Stanković had a complex task ahead of them. After conducting the tests, they separated the painting into four parts, in places where it would be easiest to retouch the joints, and then they separated the painted layer from the facade of the Parish Palace using the strapping technique. After cleaning the plaster residues and drying the painted layer, the painting was transferred to a structure previously made of lacquer and filled with polystyrene as the lightest possible material. The sundial, transferred to a new salting machine, was retouched and exhibited in the Sombor City Museum. The parish hall has since been whitewashed and after the facade plaster has dried, a replica of the sundial was made, painted with acrylic paints and protected with acrylic resin. Photo: Archive of the PZZZSK Written by: Daniela Simic
