🖼 Pulkovo Observatory

Пулковское ш., 65

Tours with telescopes — by appointment

The site for the observatory on Pulkovo Hill was chosen by Nicholas I; it was laid down in 1835 and opened on 7 (19) August 1839.
The buildings were designed by the architect Alexander Bryullov; the instruments were ordered from Munich and Hamburg.
The first director was Vasily Struve (1839–1862), succeeded by his son Otto Struve.
At its opening it held the world's largest refractor, by Merz and Mahler, with a 38 cm objective.
From 1844 the Pulkovo meridian through the centre of the Main Building served as Russia's zero point for longitude.
In the war all the buildings were destroyed, but the lens of the 30-inch refractor was saved; the observatory reopened in May 1954.
The asteroid (762) Pulcova, discovered in 1913 at its Simeiz branch, is named after the observatory.

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