Besançon is well known for its clocks. This one was huge, located in the bell tower of the Cathedral. It has 70 dials, tells the time, of course, and also the date, day of the week, month, year, sunrise, sunset, adjustment for leap year, the orbits of the planets, eclipses, phases of the moon, tide times, the date of Easter Sunday, even the 400 leap year when the century year is only a leap year if it's divisible by 400....i.e. the year 2000 (If you think that's confusing try googling it!!) That was the first time that dial ever worked, so the clock maker in 1860 could never test whether it worked or not!! There were also saints moving around every quarter of an hour ringing bells and Christ resurrecting and being buried!! All very fascinating.
The clock, nearly 6m tall
Besançon also had a time museum with many weird and wonderful clocks in it
and a Foucault Pendulum which you could look down on and watch the world rotate! The pendulum stays still, while the building and world rotate around it. So if you watch it for long enough, it seems as if the pendulum is gradually moving round through 360 degrees. Interesting!!
The Foucault Pendulum
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