Clock

In the center of the French village of Cloche du Montaigne, nestled near the Southeastern border in the Pyrenees mountains, stands a clock. The clock, also named Cloche du Montaigne, is named for the village and the village is named for the clock. The name means “clock of the mountain” and they are equally ancient.

It has been rumored, though never verified, that the clock was built by Swiss emigrees who came South in the 13th century for a marginally warmer climate, or political or religious freedom. Or something. No one can pinpoint exactly who built it or funded it, and it is only assumed the builders were Swiss due to the fine workmanship. What they can say is it was completed by 1286, the same year other businesses can be confirmed to have started. And remarkably, as with the clock, many of the businesses are still in operation. In different hands, to be sure, but there is still a bakery on the corner of la Rue Royale and a potter at the end of le Boulevard de Guillaume Noir.

While it’s true that homes and businesses in all areas of the village are still standing, still functional, it’s also true that not one businesses in direct vicinity of the clock has closed, nor has any home near the clock ever burned down, been destroyed by force of nature, or even been sold to another family. Everything near the clock has stayed essentially the same for 730 years.

It could be that those businesses closest to the clock benefitted from proximity to a minor tourist attraction. And it’s equally possible that it’s in the interest of the village to keep the homes close to a tourist attraction in good repair.

However, when one looks at the official proceedings of the village since 1286, there is no evidence that the village ever made any effort to preserve homes, businesses, or even the clock itself. Overall, the attitude of the mayor and the minor royal powers who ran the village before there was a mayor has been one of laissez-faire. Let businesses and families handle their own affairs, the duty of a government is to maintain order.

If one goes to tour the clock, with tours given daily at 11 and 1 or by request, you may notice two other unique curiosities about the clock, one overt, one subtle.

First, while the clock can be dated to 1286, and it has been featured in art and photographs for centuries, the architecture of the clock is not typical of French, Spanish, or European clocks, buildings, or churches of the 12th, 13th, or 14th centuries. Grey and smooth, the clock appears to be made of sculpted stone carved from the rock of the mountain itself rather than built of brick and wood. Even inside, while the mechanisms and bells are clearly iron and copper, the walls and stairs are all carved stone, as if the clock was grown, not formed.

The other curious oddity is that while the clock is always in perfect working order, with chimes changing seasonally for various holidays, no one is ever seen maintaining it. No one cleans it or oils the gears. It just is. In fact, if one asks, no one in the village can say whose job it is to work on the clock, or where the clock keeper lives. It’s just assumed that someone does it, and someone must, because the work is done.

There may be more mysteries regarding Cloche du Montaigne, the village and the clock, but there will not likely be any answers.