Last update on 21 May 2013
The Paris Observatory
Fonded in 1667 as a place where the Sun King’s astronomers, members of the Academy, could work, it is still at the heart of French astronomy and a major institution in the world of science. Observations were made there up to the end of the XXth century, instruments are designed there, and theoretical work covering the whole of astronomy is done there. With its uninterrupted scientific activity, combined with a desire to conserve and archive, it has an extremely rich scientific and technical heritage.