THE ŠIAULIAI SQUARE

The Sundial square was built in 1986, commemorating 750^th birthday of Šiauliai city. The monument is located between the old town, the old Catholic cemetery and Talkša Lake.

The design of the Sundial square is the result of collaborative efforts of Šiauliai architects R. Jūrėla, A. Višniūnas and A. Černiauskas, and the sculpture of “The Archer” (also known as the “golden boy”) was created by sculptor S. Kuzma. The main idea of the square is to pay tribute to the three most important symbols of Šiauliai city: the Sun, homage to the Battle of the Sun, which took place in Šiauliai land, the archer (lit.- Šaulys), associated with the origin of the city’s name, and the time passed since the first mention of Šiauliai city.

The monument consists of the amphitheatre-shaped square and an 18 meters high obelisk, crowned with the sculpture of the running archer.

On a sunny day, this obelisk turns into the gnomon: casting a shadow which moves around the dial with infused metal numbers (12, 3 and 6), it shows the local time. It is the highest sundial in Lithuania. During midday, the shadow of the gnomon points to the boulder arbour resembling an ancient temple, located close to the cemetery wall.