The Great Clock at Rouen

It is very enjoyable to look through an old magazine or book and see a photo and wonder what the place pictured in the book or magazine looks like now compared to the past or if it even exists at all.  This photo in a 1943 National Geographic is an example of that type of thought.  The Grosse Horloge built in 1511 in Rouen, France was in danger of being bombed during WWII.  The caption at the bottom of the photo scan to the right states that National Geographic pictures like this may be used as models for restoring war damaged  shrines of Europe. During WWII a quarter of the Roen Old Town center was burnt down.

The clock was restored in 1997 and was highlighted by a company called Neo Light  in 2003.  The photo's on the Neo Lights website are stunning. This would be something worth seeing if ever in this part of France.  Pictured below is a photo of some of the detail of the arch below the clock.          

There is only one hand on the clock that shows the hour and the days appear in a window underneath. A minute hand must not have been as important in the 16th century.  A bell is rung from the clocks belfry at 9:00 pm sounding the curfew every evening. 

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