Gardens of the Observatory of Paris

The Paris Observatory is the oldest astronomical observatory still in operation today. King Louis the Fourteenth authorized its construction in sixteen sixty-seven, and its foundational layout was traced on the ground by members of the Royal Academy of Sciences on Midsummer's Day of that same year. The building was designed by Claude Perrault, who is also known for his work on the colonnade of the Louvre. Its architecture is explicitly tied to its scientific mission, as the four main facades were constructed to face the four cardinal points of the compass.