Editing Hour (section)

=== Counting from sunset ===
[[File:AstiCattedrale.jpg|thumb|Sundial with Italian hours in [[Asti]]]]

In so-called "[[Italy|Italian]] time", "Italian hours", or "old Czech time", the first hour started with the sunset [[Angelus]] bell (or at the end of dusk, i.e., half an hour after sunset, depending on local custom and geographical latitude). The hours were numbered from 1 to 24. For example, in Lugano, the sun rose in December during the 14th hour and noon was during the 19th hour; in June the sun rose during the 7th hour and noon was in the 15th hour. Sunset was always at the end of the 24th hour. The clocks in church towers struck only from 1 to 12, thus only during night or early morning hours.

This manner of counting hours had the advantage that everyone could easily know how much time they had to finish their day's work [[daylight|without artificial light]]. It was already widely used in [[Italy]] by the 14th century and lasted until the mid-18th century; it was officially abolished in 1755, or in some regions customary until the mid-19th century.{{efn|There is a trace of that system, for instance, in [[Verdi]]'s [[opera]]s where in ''[[Rigoletto]]'' or in ''[[Un ballo in maschera]]'' midnight is announced by the bell striking six times, not 12. But in his last opera, ''[[Falstaff (opera)|Falstaff]]'', strangely, he abandoned that style, perhaps under influence of contemporary trends at end of 19th [[century]] when he composed it, and the midnight bell strikes 12 times.}}<ref>"Nach langem stillen Stauen trennten wir uns, da es fernher 7 schlug, nach unserer Uhr 12 Uhr Mitternacht." ([[Carl Oesterley senior|Carl Oesterley]], am 10. Dezember 1826 aus Rom nach einem nächtlichen Besuch des Kolosseums vier Tage zuvor). In: [[Herrmann Zschoche]] (Hrsg.): ''Carl Oesterley – Briefe aus Italien 1826-1828''. Frankfurt am Main 2013, S.&nbsp;33.</ref>

The system of Italian hours can be seen on a number of clocks in Europe, where the dial is numbered from 1 to 24 in either Roman or Arabic numerals. The [[St Mark's Clock]] in Venice, and the [[Orloj]] in Prague are famous examples. It was also used in [[Poland]], [[Silesia]], and [[Bohemia]] until the 17th century.

Its replacement by the more practical division into [[12-hour clock|twice twelve]] ([[Equinoctial hours|equinoctial]]) hours (also called small clock or civic hours) began as early as the 16th century.

The [[Islamic]] day begins at sunset. The first prayer of the day ([[maghrib]]) is to be performed between just after sunset and the end of twilight. Until 1968 Saudi Arabia used the system of counting 24 equal hours with the first hour starting at sunset.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.aramcoworld.com/issue/196902/dinner.at.when.htm|title=Saudi Aramco World : Dinner At When?|website=archive.aramcoworld.com}}</ref>