The Historical-Technological Study of Monumental Tower Clocks: The Town Hall Clock of Alcala la Real, Jaen (Spain)

摘要

This article is a contribution to industrial archaeology, the science dealing with the study of past industrial remains. The paper offers a historic technological study of the mechanical clock in the tower of the Town Hall of Alcala la Real in the province of Jaen (Spain). It is part of a project, which encompassed the compilation of historic documentation, fieldwork, the description of the functioning and the graphic reconstruction of the clock's machinery. After a brief introduction about the history of clocks and the description of the working of monumental bell tower clocks we proceed to the details of the town hall clock. We describe how we constructed on the basis of fieldwork by means of infographic techniques a 3D model that gives a virtual simulation of the working of this mechanical device.