27 El Papamoscas y Martinillo - Curiosidades de la catedral de Burgos

The Flycatcher and the Martinillo are beloved figures in the city of Burgos. Their popularity has been captured in numerous works of world literature, as well as in the diaries and memoirs of travelers who passed through the Burgos cathedral and were drawn to them. At twelve o'clock in the morning, tourists and pilgrims gather in the cathedral to contemplate them at the busiest moment of the day. At the foot of Burgos Cathedral, in the first section of the main nave and 15 meters high, amidst the pointed arch of a window overlooking the triforium, the Flycatcher crowns the cathedral's interior clock. It is a wooden automaton with a half-length human figure, with a mustache and goatee, wearing a black hat and a red courtier's jacket with a belt, with green collars, sleeves, and shoulder pads, as in the period in which it was built. At the hour, he moves his right arm, which holds a musical score, using a chain to operate the clapper of a bell, making it ring, and opening his mouth to the rhythm of the chimes. In his left hand, he once held a baton, which has since been lost, passing from conductor to performer. Beside him, on a small balcony, Martinillo is another charming full-body automaton, less famous than the Flycatcher, who is also part of the clock. He strikes two bells with hammers, one in each hand, marking the quarters, halves, and, along with the Flycatcher, the four quarters before the hour. Until 1887, he had a small door that opened for him to come out to strike the quarters, and later, after he left, it closed. The door and mechanism often broke down and had to be removed, giving the automaton greater visibility. Rooted in Castilian imagination, folklore, and legend, this was the name given to the goblins or demons who haunted houses. The two Romanesque bells rung by "Martinillo" corresponded to two other bells in the quarters of the north spire, the smaller from the 18th century and the larger from the mid-20th century. The hour bell rung by the "Papamoscas" corresponded to another extraordinary Gothic bell with double epigraphy from the year 1350. Its original hammers were replaced by external electro-hammers, although they have been silenced for several decades. Neither the exact date nor the circumstances under which the Papamoscas was created are known, but it possibly came from a Venetian workshop. In the 6th century, there is already evidence of a mechanical clock, placed in the south tower outside the cathedral, for which four thousand maravedis were paid. In 1462, the cathedral bell-ringer was reprimanded for the clock's "non-working" and a new clockmaker had to be hired. These clocks are powered by a weight attached to a coiled rope, which is lowered by gravity and, with a rod escapement mechanism acting as a rhythmic brake, converts the rapid movement of the weights into a slow, regular, and fragmented one, giving rise to the seconds, minutes, and hours with the classic ticking sound. The cathedral's clockworks are supported by a platform 15 meters high and protected by 18 glass doors. The clock's pendulum is inlaid with agate, and the dial is made of enameled lava to resist the elements, as the clock was originally intended to be installed on the façade of a tower. It has three large weights, one for the clock and two larger ones, weighing 540 kilos each, for the Flycatcher and the Martinillo. The clock's winding lasted a week, but the automatons' winding lasted no more than two days. Today, the counterweight mechanism has been improved and is automated by computer, but the flycatcher and the Martinillo are the old-fashioned ones, perfectly maintained and periodically adjusted. As early as 1519, the chapter discussed the possibility of adding a moving figure to the clock, as in Central Europe. It is believed that the flycatcher is documented in the 16th century, describing himself as "a slow-witted man, who was a friar reading in his book." In 1567, the clockmaker, Master Pedro, made an intervention that pleased the chapter. The first mention of the Martinillo dates back to 1632, and of the flycatcher in 1669. It is also known that in 1742, after the deplorable state of the Flycatcher, it was rebuilt by Francisco Álvarez, the clockmaker of Salamanca Cathedral. In the 18th century, it is mentioned, alluding to "a bird with its mouth always open, and many strangers come to see the Flycatcher." Due to its grotesque, comical, and demonic appearance, typical of the Middle Ages, it was criticized by some ecclesiastical authorities, and some bishops sought to remove it. Since the Council of Trent, several automata have suffered the disappearance of elements, but the Flycatcher was saved and is one of the most well-known and emblematic clocks in the country.