Astronomical Observatory of Lisbon

The Astronomical Observatory of Lisbon (in portuguese, Observatório Astronómico de Lisboa) is located at Tapada da Ajuda, inside the Instituto Superior de Agronomia¹. The construction began in 1861 and six years later began to be made regular observations of the starry sky. The King D. Pedro V advanced a generous financial contribution to turn the construction of the observatory possible, whose design was authorship of the French architect Jean-François Colson.

On the May 6^th of 1878, was founded the Real Observatório Astronómico de Lisboa² by the initiative of D. Francisco de Almeida Portugal, diplomat and member of the Academia Real das Ciências de Lisboa³.

In this technological space, visitors may enjoy of the exhibition galleries with diverse chronometers, chronographs, the telescope Circle Meridian (dated from the 19^th century) and the beauty of the facilities themselves that open its doors on the ceiling to the night sky.

Translation references

1. Higher Institute of Agronomy
2. Royal Astronomical Observatory of Lisbon
3. Royal Science Academy of Lisbon