165 Lyon, France, Cathedral of John the Baptist, with working medieval clock

Nice to see John getting a whole cathedral for once instead of a little baptismal chapel at the back on the left. John is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy,  and as the prophet Yahya ibn Zakariya in Islam. He does not only appear in  the gospel: his existence as a preacher is confirmed by Josephus in his best known work “Antiquities of the Jews”, soon to be a Netflix series (okay I made that last bit up).

He quickly became the region's top influencer by offering the service of dunking people in a river while loudly calling everyone not present a "brood of vipers." Unfortunately, his viral success led to a fatal run-in with the royal family, proving that even prophets who draw huge crowds should probably avoid criticizing the King's marriage choices.

Anyway, the church was built up slowly, between 1175 and 1480. Things went faster when the pope, Innocent the Fourth, came to live in Lyon for a while.

The cathedral served for a while during the French Revolution as a temple for the worship of Reason and the Supreme Being, as the revolutionaries briefly attempted to replace the Christian religion with something less fancy.

It got renovated in the 19th century.

It has a 14th century astronomical clock, which still works with the original mechanism! It gives the dates of solar eclipses, new moons, and is generally an amazing piece of engineering. Must have impressed them 14th century visitors.

Henry the fourth of France married Marie of the Medicis here in 1600. There is a plaque to the memory of father Lacordaire, who famously supported with some enthusiasm the 1848 revolution in France.

Don't miss cool 19th century marble pulpit, and fabulous recent stained glass.