Tartu Old Observatory

The story behind the place

Tartu’s old observatory connects looking into space with measuring the Earth. Its museum presents astronomy, geodesy and seismology, and marks a measurement point of the Struve Geodetic Arc on the lobby floor. That arc links observations across a large part of Europe to investigate the Earth’s size and shape. The restored observatory opened as a museum in 2011. Its modest roof cabin and low wings make a different scientific landmark from a modern mountain observatory with a giant hemispherical dome.

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