The astronomical clock of the Primatiale de Lyon

As it stands, the astronomical clock housed in the north transept, near the Saint-Thomas Chapel of the Primatiale Saint-Jean-Baptiste in Lyon, is one of the very few mechanisms dating back to early modern times.

According to an apocryphal legend, Thodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, on settling in Italy, offered up to the Church in Lyon a clepsydra (water clock) built by his adviser, the famous philosopher Boetius. The oldest reference to a clock housed in the cathedral (the small clock) dates back to 1393.

After its destruction in 1562 and the initial work undertaken in 1572, the chapter entrusted Hugues Levet, Master Horologist of Lyon, with the task of repairing the clock; he enlisted the help of Nicolas Lippius, his old master, who hailed from Basel.
It was restored once again in 1660-62 by Guillaume Nourissier (from the town of Ambert in the Auvergne), who added a number of automata, and then in 1779 by Pierre Charmy, creator of the Swissman in the dome. It underwent regular repairs (1894 and 1954) until a complete restoration gave it a new lease of life in 1993.

The clock comprises three dials, one on the south side, two on the west side. On the south, an oval dial indicates the minutes (numbered from 1 to 60). To adjust to the oval design of the dial, the hands are shortened and lengthened by an internal mechanism. On the west-side, the bottom dial is a perpetual calendar, calculated for the years from 1954 to 2019. It gives the year's date, the day of the week and year, as well as fixed and movable feast days. Above it, the astrolabe gives the position of the stars, especially the moon phases and the stars rising on Lyon's horizon.

At the top, automata are set in motion depending on the day and time. In the recess which dominates the west dials, the resurrected Christ appears on Sundays, Death on Mondays, Saint John the Baptist on Tuesdays, Saint Etienne on Wednesdays, Christ holding a chalice and host on Thursdays, a child carrying a cross on Fridays, Our Lady on Saturdays.

When the mechanics are triggered, the Angel of the hourglass (to the left of the recess) turns its instrument; the rooster, at the very top, beats its wings and raises its neck to crow three times; the second angel beats time, the others play a hymn to Saint John the Baptist on small bells, the first two letters of each verse corresponding to the musical notes (Ut quant laxis / Resonnare fibris / Mira gestorum / Famuli tuorum / Solve polluti / Labii reatum / Sancte Iohannes - So that your servants may sing your great deeds in full, wash, Saint John, the sins from their mouths). In a small chapel, Our Lady is kneeling in prayer, above her, a dove descends through a hatch while the Angel Gabriel enters opposite her through a door. In the sky, further up, God gives three blessings. The Swissman goes round the dome, saluting in the middle of the circuit. Then everything freezes after the hour is struck.