A Palace of Time

Tomorrow, we leave Jerez by train to Seville. We have really enjoyed ourselves here and in 6 days have only touched on the many things that we could see and do from here. We are leaving with some wonderful memories.

This morning, we walked to a Palace of Time, a clock museum, located in a summer palace surrounded by beautiful gardens. When it was built in 1873, the ‘cottage’ was out in the country, north of the city. Now the city has grown all around it.

This museum is the only clock museum in Spain. It opened in 1973 and all the clocks on display work. When we went inside you could hear the gentle ticking of the 280 clocks on display, with soft Baroque music playing in the background.

There are ten rooms and one of the most valuable collections of antique clocks in Europe. There are actually 302 clocks in the Museum. Of special interest is the oldest clock, dating back to 1670 but there are also English clocks, pocket clocks, desk clocks, travel clocks, bedside clocks, etc. Quite an interesting collection.

The majority of the clocks in the collection are French or English but there are some from
Italy, Switzerland and Germany. It was interesting to see that the French clocks were elaborately decorated with gold, filigree work, gilt, glass and porcelain. They are visual works of art. In comparison, the English clocks are more utilitarian, but apparently, more accurate.

There were some very unusual clocks. One was a sundial shaped like a cannon that fired on the hour! Another was a ship that swayed back and forth while it measured time, and another clock was an automan clown that juggled cups.

Many of the chiming clocks still work. They are tended by experienced and dedicated clockmakers who ensure they are all correctly wound and set to the correct time. We wondered about who had the job of winding all of those clocks every week…

On the half-hour the French clocks chime in unison - tinkly, sweet sounds. On the full hour, the bass notes of Westminster chimes resound through the building.

We were there at noon when all the clocks started chiming the hour. What a great sound!

Upstairs was where the more precious clocks were kept as well as a very big collection of canes.

When we were done, we finished off our visit by wandering through the old gardens, just biding our time…Read more