The Royal Observatory of Greenwich is located in Greenwich, a borough of London.
It is famous all over the world as the meridian of the same name passes through its dome. The Royal Observatory was founded in 1675 by Charles II, King of England who conferred the position of royal astronomer on John Flamsteed to direct the Observatory with the utmost care.
The structure was born with the aim of correctly establishing the longitude of the boats that were located off the coast of England, which in the seventeenth century based most of its strength on the power of the navy.
In 1884 the Greenwich meridian was definitively consecrated as the reference one for measuring the earth's longitude.
The Royal Observatory is now also a museum where John Harrison's clock is exhibited, thanks to which the meridian was established.
Also inside an octagonal room designed by the architect Christopher Wren numerous memorabilia and tools for the study of astronomy.
The unique piece of the museum is also the large equatorial telescope, the largest existing in Europe and seventh in the world in size that was used until the sixties of the twentieth century.
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