The+Big+Clock

The **Gros Horloge** is a fourteenth-century astronomical clock in Rouen, France. The building itself was built in the 1300s, but in 1409 a clock face was installed on the archway over a gate in the historic walls. The bells ring on the hour, half-hour and quarter-hour. The current archway and clock faces, were rebuilt between 1527-1529. The clocks front has only one hand that tells the hour. A divinity associated with the day of the week appears at noon on a chariot. Above the clock face, there is also a globe that tells the phase of the moon.

There are many pictures of sheep and lamb that tell of the history of the people that lived there and how they made a living in trade. On the underside of the arch there are symbols that represent Rouen's coat of arms. On the top of the cathedral there is a slender cast-iron steeple that is a is symbols of the town. You can see some of the most gorgeous and beautiful stained-glass windows in France. The cathedral was the known as the Dukes’ crowning place.

The clock keeper lived in a small house next to the archway and was responsible for its maintenance and repairs, caring for the clock was an honor. The fountain represents the love between the river god Alpheus and the nymph Arethusa.