The Bucharest Observatory is an astronomical observatory located at no. 21

Lascăr Catargiu Boulevard Lascăr is both a Romanian surname and a masculine Romanian given name. Notable people with the name include: * Bogdan Lascăr (born 1974), Romanian sculptor, graphic designer, and film maker * Lascăr Catargiu (1823–1899), Romanian statesman * ...

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. It is Bucharest's only observatory open to the public.

History

The observatory was built between 1908 and 1910, for Admiral Vasile Urseanu, president of the ''Romanian Astronomical Society "Camille Flammarion"''. It was equipped with a 150 mm diameter Zeiss telescope with a focal length of 2.7 meters; the telescope was the third largest in Romania at the time. Ion D. Berindey was the architect. The observatory founded by Urseanu was frequented by amateur astronomers; professional researchers worked at the Bucharest Astronomical Observatory, founded by Nicolae Coculescu and located on ''Filaret Hill'' in

Carol Park Carol I Park () is a public park in Bucharest, Romania, named after King Carol I of Romania. A French garden located in the southern-central area of Bucharest, partly on Filaret Hill, originally capable of hosting various exhibitions, it suffer ...

. Following the death of Admiral Urseanu in 1926, the telescope was dismantled and stored in the basement of the building. In 1933, Urseanu's widow donated the building to the municipality of Bucharest, which used it as a

pinacotheca A pinacotheca (Latin calque, borrowing from = + ) was a picture gallery in either ancient Greece or ancient Rome. The name is specifically used for the building containing pictures which formed the left wing of the Propylaea (Acropolis of Athen ...

. In 1949, the paintings were transferred to other museums. In April 1950, the telescope was relocated to the dome, and the building returned to its original purpose as an astronomical observatory. In 1990, the observatory was dedicated to its founder and took the name ''Astronomical Observatory Admiral Vasile Urseanu''. The Urseanu House is listed as a

historic monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...

by Romania's Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs.Lista Monumentelor Istorice 2010: Județul Iași

External links

Notes

{{Coord, 44.44857, 26.09295, format=dms, type:landmark_region:RO, display=title Museums in Bucharest Science museums in Romania Historic monuments in Bucharest Astronomical observatories in Romania 1910 establishments in Romania Houses completed in 1910

History

See also

External links

Notes