Heliograph In 1893 the Specola obtained a heliograph, a telescope especially designed for photographing the Sun; it is shown here with the custodian, Carlo Diadori. It was the first of its kind in Italy. It was constructed in Paris following the design of Prof. P....
Visuale Telescope A “Visuale” Telescope is a large refractor designed to be used by an astronomer looking “visually” through an eyepiece (as opposed to telescopes designed to be used as photographic cameras). The Specola’s largest visuale, with a 40 cm objective lens...
Cart du Ciel Telescope The Vatican Observatory was one of eighteen observatories collaborating on the project, organized at Paris in 1887, to make a map of the entire sky. The “Carte du Ciel” telescope which was used for this project was mounted in 1891 on the Leonine...
Vatican Aerial View St. Peter’s and the Vatican from the air, circa 1925. The Via della Conciliazione, the wide road leading into St. Peter’s today, had not yet been cleared; that began in 1936. Note the wall behind St. Peter’s on which telescope domes can be seen....
Tower of the Winds This tower was built between 1578 and 1580 to demonstrate the astronomical motivation for the reform of the calendar, commissioned by Pope Gregory XIII. This building, also known as the Gregorian Tower or Gregorian Observatory, includes the Sala...
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