Pope Pius X

Pope Pius X, Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto (1835 – 1914), was elected Pope in August 1903 and served until his death in 1914. He played a crucial role in the history of the early Specola.

After the death of Father Denza in 1894, other scientists assigned to the Specola included a seismologist and a meteorologist (who was named its director). Unfortunately, their attempt to help out with the astronomical work was less than successful. Finally, in November of 1904, Pope Pius X appointed the archbishop of Pisa, Pietro Maffi to reorganize the Specola and search for a new director. After more than a year of very delicate negotiations, in February 1906 the Jesuit priest Johan Hagen was selected, beginning the tradition of entrusting the Specola to Jesuits and concentrating the work of the Specola exclusively to astronomy.

Pius X also expanded the space available to the Specola. The space originally assigned to the Specola was very spread out, and the employees did not have sufficient living and work areas. At the suggestion of Monsignor Maffi, in 1906 Pius X gave the Specola his Papal Villa on the Leonine Wall, in direct contact with the Tower of St. John; on this tower the 8.8 m dome of the 1909 Merz refractor was located.

On 17 November 1910, Pius X granted a special audience to the staff of the Specola to officially celebrate the new headquarters. The following year, as a commemoration of the eighth year of his pontificate, the historical medal which was customarily coined each year and distributed to the members of the Papal Court and Ecclesiastical Dignitaries on the Feast of the Apostles Peter and Paul, was inscribed with the allegorical figure of Astronomy speaking the words: Ampliorem. in. Hortis. Vat. Mihi. Sedem. Adornavit (“He has prepared for me a more ample seat in the Vatican Gardens”).