Before we walk under the archway of the Gros-Horloge, pause for a moment and look up. You’re standing beneath something that controlled daily life in Rouen for centuries. This was not decoration. This was essential city infrastructure. The clock mechanism inside is more than six hundred years old. When it was first installed, there was no clock face at all. Time was communicated by sound. Bells rang to mark the hours, signal curfews, and organise the working day. People didn’t look at the time — they listened to it. Only later did Rouen decide to make time visible. An arch was built across the street, and a large clock face was added so everyone passing through could see the hour. Look at the artwork on the clock face: a golden sun with twenty-four rays (for the twenty-four hours of the day) set against a star-studded blue sky. There’s only one hand – a delicate gilded hand ending in a lamb, which is a nod to the “Paschal Lamb,” the symbol of Rouen’s coat of arms. That lamb might be hard to see from street level, but it’s there, trotting along to point at the hour. Above the main dial, in the smaller round opening (oculus), you can spot a sphere – that’s a moon phase indicator, making a full rotation every twenty-nine days to show the new moon and full moon. And below the dial, there’s a panel that shows the day of the week with allegorical figures: each day is represented by a Roman god or goddess (for example, a figure of Diana for Monday, Mars for Tuesday, Mercury for Wednesday, and so on). Of course, all this was to impress – an ordinary clock would suffice to tell time, but this one also tracks the heavens and parades mythology for you! Now step fully under the arch and look up at the underside. Many people miss this part. Directly beneath the clock, you’ll see carved stone reliefs. At the centre is a shepherd holding a staff, surrounded by sheep. One sheep stands close to his hand. This scene represents the Good Shepherd, a Christian symbol of Christ watching over his followers. Next to the arch stands the bell tower, which houses both the clock and the city’s bells. One of these bells rang to announce the nightly curfew, telling residents when the city gates would close. The Gros-Horloge has survived revolutions, bombing, and modernisation. Today, the mechanism is electrified, but it still follows the same medieval logic it always has. Walk through the arch and then turn around and look toward the edge of the arch. You will see the coat of arms of Rouen. Play the next stop as I tell you more about it.