Huis Bouchoute (House Bouchoute)

On top of House ‘Bouchoute’ (1482), the house on the corner, there is a sphere covered in gold leaf. When the Brussels-Ghent-Bruges railway line was inaugurated, people noticed that not all Belgian clocks were synchronised. This, of course, was not conducive to a punctual timetable. Professor Quetelet solved this shortcoming by installing a noon hand and a noon line in various cities that unquestionably indicated the time. In Bruges, this happened in 1837. The ‘noon line’ has now been made visible with copper nails.When the shadow of the sphere falls directly on the 12 o’clock line, it is noon or 12 o’clock local solar time.