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Founded: 1819Category: Miscellaneous historic sites in Finland
Historical period: Russian Grand Duchy (Finland)
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Vartiovuori observatory is the former observatory of the Royal Academy of Turku. Building was completed 1819 and it was designed by German architect Carl Ludvig Engel. By its style, the neoclassical observatory is typical work of Engel and it has obvious similarities to Helsinki University Observatory and Pulkovo Observatory (in St. Petersburg, Russia) designed also by him. Building is located on top of the Vartiovuori hill, close to the cathedral and Aura river and it's well visible from many places in city center.
The Academy moved to Helsinki after the Fire and got a new observatory there few years later. Instruments were moved to Helsinki and finally Vartiovuori Observatory became defunct 1834. At 1836 Åbo Navigationsskola (Maritime School) moved into empty observatory building and stayed there until 1967. Between 1986 and 1998 building was a maritime museum and during the repair of the Turku Art Museum 1999–2005, the changing exhibitions were placed in observatory. Currently and also in the picture, a flag of the foundation Stiftelsen för Åbo Akademi flies over the building.
The observatory and several wooden houses (current Luostarinmäki Handicrafts Museum) on the hill were saved from the Great Fire of Turku 1827.
References:The Château du Lude is one of the many great châteaux of the Loire Valley in France. Le Lude is the most northerly château of the Loire Valley and one of the last important historic castles in France, still inhabited by the same family for the last 260 years. The château is testimony to four centuries of French architecture, as a stronghold transformed into an elegant house during the Renaissance and the 18th century. The monument is located in the valley of Le Loir. Its gardens have evolved throughout the centuries.
