About 300 meters north of the Pompidou Center stands an urban concrete neighborhood with 6-7-story residential buildings, called the Quartier de l'Horloge. These are, a maze of narrow streets, between which are small courtyards and arched passages, and bordered by tiny merchants, fast food, and cheap bookstores. Not exactly a place for people looking for attractions in Paris…
If you think that the gloomy concrete quarter is named after some ancient medieval clock, you are mistaken, it is actually an interesting and relatively new mechanical clock. In fact, it is a mechanical doll or automaton called: Le Defenseur du Temps (The Defender of Time) hidden in the heart of the quarter, and hanging on a wall at 8 Rue Bernard de Clairvaux. The automaton's wonderful music may have stopped on July 2003, XNUMX, but during the years it was in operation, many people used to crowd under it and watch its operation with great interest. Amazingly, even today, quite a few people stomp their feet to look at the frozen creation.
The impressive work stands four meters high and weighs a ton, and depicts man's heroic struggle against the forces of nature. Every hour, between 9 a.m. and 10 p.m., passersby would watch a man made of metal standing on a rock, carrying a massive sword, alternately battling one of the terrifying beasts: a powerful dragon, a rooster, or a crab, except three times a day when he had to attack all three: at 12 noon, XNUMX p.m., and XNUMX p.m. The dragon, rooster, and crab symbolized the elements of nature, air, earth, and water, respectively, and during the battle, one could listen to the sounds of the earth, the blowing wind, and the roaring waves of the sea.
The Story of the Time Guardian
The sculpture was commissioned by the Cosmid company in 1975 and was created by the puppeteer Jacques Monestier. Jacques Monestier was born in the capital of the Haute-Loire department – Le Puy en Velay, an ancient town surrounded by volcanic hills, with a breathtaking 12th-century cathedral and the Chapel Saint-Michel d'Aiguilhe perched on the edge of a cliff.
It is no wonder that the unique structure and architecture of the two magnificent buildings captured the boy’s heart and influenced his future. Monstier studied engineering and then architecture at the famous School of Fine Arts in Paris (Ecole des Beaux Arts) and upon completing his studies, he turned to creating mechanical puppets (automata). In 1965, the young man had already won a professional grant and soon, the animated sculptures he worked on gained wide recognition. Just like the Italian genius Da Vinci, whom he admired, Monstier was fascinated by the movements of animals and humans, a trait that he brought to expression in “The Shield of Time” and many other works that can be seen on his website.
To create the clock, Monstier was assisted by Louis Desouches, who was entrusted with the dragon's scales and the steel frame was entrusted to Alain Moirod. The four figures were cast in copper, and covered with gilded copper leaves, and the rock on which the man stood was made of oxidized brass. In September 1979, the automaton was partially installed, and the following month, the clock was officially inaugurated by the mayor of Paris At that time, Jacques Chirac.
Over the years, minor maintenance was required, and after funds were raised in 1995, the quartz mechanism was replaced with a radio-controlled clock, and the old tape recorder was replaced by a compact disc system. But by 2003, the creaking automaton mechanism had stopped beating and the magnificent mechanical metal parts had worn and rusted. The glory of the clock, then, had passed, and for more than a decade the broken automaton has been crying out for the budget required to restore it. The “Protector of Time” may have defeated the monsters and the forces of nature in all its battles, but it was precisely the time it loyally protected that defeated it.
And to remember the glory days of the automaton against the backdrop of the song of Jacques Berle:
Route from Rambuto train station:
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The photo at the beginning of the article was taken by Joel Tamanlis.
