OSSERVATORIO ASTRONOMICO DI BRERA - MERATE

The astronomical observatory of Brera in Milan is the oldest institution in the city. Installed in the second half of the eighteenth century, it has been active since that time, completed by the beginning of the twentieth century by another observatory, located in Merate. The Brera Observatory was founded in 1764 in the Collège des Jesuits in Milan. Jesuit teaching was based on humanities, but also on other sciences such as astronomy. Moreover, in the eighteenth century, these same Jesuits had established and managed various astronomical observatories throughout Europe, including those of Lyon and Marseille! We can imagine that, over the centuries, many instruments followed the observatory, allowing observations of the sky, but also of other measures such as those concerning time, geodesy and cartography. It was in the nineteenth century that things went faster… In 1859 Lombardy was annexed. This political event had immediate consequences for the observatory for which it was necessary to find a man of trust to manage it under the best conditions… This "savior" was called Giovanni Virginio Schiaparelli and became an internationally renowned astronomer. He was only 27 years old and was already considered a brilliant scientist, whose effectiveness and modernity would be able to revive the observatory. New instruments were commissioned, including a beautiful astronomical telescope made in Germany, 22 cm in diameter, for the study of stars. But it was towards the end of the nineteenth century that Schiaparelli saw his name appear in the firmament of world astronomy with his observations on the planet Mars which allowed him to discover "seas", "continents" and above all "channels", observations later relayed by the famous American astronomer Percival Lowell. Today the Astronomical Observatory of Brera is an internationally recognized research institute, very active on its two sites (Milan and Merate). Please note that Milan headquarters contains valuable historical archives, including a library rich in approximately 30,000 books. Two fully restored cupolas are used for public conferences and day visits. A museum also offers a permanent exhibition of ancient instruments. The Merate site is also worth a visit, because it houses two cupoles open to the public, accessible especially during the observation evenings. In both cases, it's really a page in the history of world astronomy that we're going to visit.