If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 619

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lyon (France), La Cathedrale St. Jean, ca. Early 1900s

 

This unused Vintage L.L. (Levy – Leon) postcard features a black & white photograph of the Cathedral in Lyon, France called Saint-Jean-Baptiste, and dated early 1900s.  The card has a divided back but no identifying number on the front or reverse.  The top edge of the card is perforated as if the card was torn from a booklet or fold out collection of cards. 

 

The seat of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Lyon, the cathedral is dedicated to John the Baptist.  There were ruins of a 6^th century church on this spot when construction of the cathedral began in 1180.  It was not until 1476 that it was completed.  Two crosses, one on the right and one on the left of the altar, date from 1274.  This building along with other historic sites in Lyon were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1998.

 

One of the features of the cathedral is a 29 ft or 9 m tall astronomical clock dating from 1661.  This elaborately decorated clock indicates the date and position of the Moon, Sun, and Earth as well as the stars.  It replaced an earlier similar type clock that was made in 1383 but destroyed in 1562.  The clock has several figures that are automated, such as angles that strike bells, turn an hourglass, the Virgin Mary who kneels in the chapel and turns to the Angel Gabriel as he opens the chapel door and a white dove descends representing the Holy Spirit.  A Swiss Guard rotates around the dome.  A tune is played on bells and the hour is struck.  All movements of the figures cease at the sounding of the hour.  There are several YouTube videos showing the clock movements and views of the interior of the cathedral.

 

For more information, see:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyon_astronomical_clock

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyon_Cathedral

https://youtu.be/99ifX1jS4_E   (Lyon Cathedral and Astronomical clock video about 4 min. long)