Domes on the Papal Palace

With the move to Castel Gandolfo, two new Zeiss telescopes were constructed on the roof of the Papal Palace; they had their “first light” in 1934 and were officially dedicated by Pope Pius XI in 1935. The dome visible in the bottom left side of the aerial photograph housed the Double Astrograph while the dome next to the center courtyard of the palace housed the Visual refractor.