Tower of the Winds (Vatican City)
The Tower of the Winds ( Italian Torre dei Venti , also Torre Gregoriana ) refers to parts of the former Vatican observatory in Vatican City , which was built in the north of the Vatican Gardens by the Bolognese architect Ottaviano Mascherino .
The building was started in 1578 by Pope Gregory XIII. initiated who used the observatory for the astronomical observations of his calendar reform . In 1580 the 73 m high tower was completed. The observatory was integrated into the west wing of the Pontifical Library in the 17th century through the expansion buildings and connecting corridors for the Vatican Museums ; as the northern boundary of the Pirro Ligorio corridor , it is now the museum's exhibition space.
The colloquial term “tower of the winds” probably stems from the fact that in addition to astronomical research and observations (see astronomical tower ), investigations into wind strengths and directions were carried out here. A weather vane on the roof transferred the wind direction to a pointer inside the tower (no longer works today). The painterly decoration also relates to the theme of "wind and storm".
Today the Vatican Observatory is located in Castel Gandolfo and in the USA .
Sala della Meridiana
In 1579 Niccolò Circignani and Mathijs Bril decorated the Sala della Meridiana on the first floor, with Bril painting the landscapes and Circignani the figures. The hall is named after the meridian - a straight line in north-south direction that was laid in the floor with white marble in 1580. Through a hole in the fresco Jesus quiets the storm on the south wall, the midday sun throws light on this meridian, which was used to measure the position of the sun at midday in the respective seasons.
Web links
- Torre dei Venti on the Vatican Secret Archives website
Coordinates: 41 ° 54 '18.4 " N , 12 ° 27' 14.9" E