The Exhibition
Welcome to the Specola Vaticana (Vatican Observatory) Visitor Center!
This online guide will provide a brief description of the many items we have on display here, providing a history of how the Vatican has supported science, and in particular astronomy, over the centuries.
This visitor center is situated on three levels.
The main floor consists of five rooms which carry you through the history of the Vatican Observatory.
Room 1 recalls Pope Gregory’s 1582 Calendar and the Fr. Secchi’s observatory at Roman College, but concentrates on the Vatican’s role in the 1891 Carte du Ciel photographic map of the sky.
Room 2 displays 16th century astrolabes, 19th century magnetometers and telescopes, and a historic hand-painted Mars globe.
Room 3 examines the work of the Observatory after its move to Castel Gandolfo in 1935, including samples of the meteorite collection and equipment from the spectrochemical lab.
Room 4 is a gallery of the Popes who founded and shaped the early years of the Observatory.
Room 5 exhibits the Specola today, from programs and research topics pursued in Castel Gandolfo to its modern research telescope in southern Arizona.
Upstairs from Room 1 is the dome of the 1891 Carte du Ciel telescope, which has been restored to full working order. Above Room 5 is the 1957 Schmidt telescope, where Pope Paul VI observed the Apollo 11 Landing in 1969 and addressed the astronauts on the Moon.
Down a set of stairs in Room 5 is the ground level, which includes a gallery of astronomically-related artwork, both classical and modern; an exhibit of computational equipment; a small video theatre; and other special display areas. The restrooms are also found on this level (below Room 1).