Église St Michel - L'église des Horlogers - Morbier

Thanks to the Mayet family, Morbier is the birthplace of the Comtoise clock. The church of Saint-Michel in Morbier
preserves many traces of this clock-making past, for you to discover.

Construction of the church was completed in 1839.
The church has been listed in the supplementary inventory of historic monuments since 2009.

The church clock
The clock by Jean-Joseph Augustin Mayet dating from 1842 was replaced in 1895 by a clock by Arsène Cretin-L'Ange, from Morbier (Supplementary Inventory of Historic Monuments).
The new mechanism included a repeating hour chime and a quarter chime. Three dials measuring two metres in diameter, visible from the outside, are located on the north, west and south facades. The movement is now equipped with two electric winding motors (installed by the Romanet company in Morbier). A two-coloured ball above the central dial indicates the course of the moon. The movement is now equipped with two electric winding motors (installed by Romanet de Morbier).

The giant Comtoise clock
A giant Comtoise clock made in 1984 can be seen in the hall to the left of the church entrance.

The meridian
This was calculated and designed by Pierre-Claude Paget from Morbier in 1842. This particular type of sundial gives a precise indication of solar noon. It was used to set clocks. Since the adoption of a common time for the whole of France, meridian clocks have had no further use.

Three tombs from the old church have been transferred to the new church. The best preserved is that of Pierre-Claude Mayet @, born in 1675 - died in 1751, master clockmaker known for his steeple clocks and inventor with his brothers of the Comtoise clock.

Several paintings can be seen, including L'Adoration des bergers, by Germain Paget, painted after his return to Morbier in 1860, donated by the Léon Paget family (supplementary inventory of historic monuments).