The Size of France - Full Meridian of Glory - page 13

Places The Paris Observatory
The main buildings of the Paris Observatory ( Fig. 6 ) were finished in 1672 by the architect
Claude Perrault (1613-1688), although some work trickled on until 1683. Perrault was the
Superintendent of Buildings under Colbert and is regarded more highly as an administrator
than as an architect. The Observatory building was oriented accurately to the cardinal
points and had a central rectangular court with octagonal towers to the east and west of its
south side. Originally portable telescopes were taken on to the towers to make observations,
Fig. 6 Paris Observatory. The Cassini room, from which Cassini made the first observations of
the Paris Meridian, is the high room under the clock above the main door. It runs through to the
rear of the building, where sunlight was admitted through an aperture, to shine on the floor. The
axis of the Cassini Room, and the axis of symmetry of the building, defines the original Paris
Meridian. The statue is of J. J. Leverrier, the discoverer of Neptune. Photo by the author