Looking up in search for answers is a gesture shared by people across time. Understanding where we are, what is our place in relation to everything else, and what is everything, are just some of the questions shared across generations. Such a gesture has come a long way (1). If observations can already be made with the naked eye, instruments will allow for more detailed ones. Today, astronomical observatories are the places where one can find the most advanced technology for celestial observation, bringing us closer to the answers to the questions that continue to puzzle us.
The Astronomical observatories of Kazan Federal University are two properties consisting of: the Observatory of Kazan Imperial University, built between 1833 and 1837 in the historical centre of Kazan: and the Engelhardt Astronomical Observatory, built in 1901 in a forested suburban area, 24 km west of the city. The observatories have been preserved complete with astronomical instruments and today perform mainly educational functions.
Observatory of Kazan Imperial University
The Observatory of Kazan Imperial University is the first university observatory in Russia. Following neo-classical traits, the building is characterized by a semi-circular façade and three round towers with rotating domes on the flat roof (2). It completes the Kazan State University ensemble designed by architect and architecture professor Mikhail Petrovich Korinfsky (1788–1851).
Its location relative to the rest of the Kazan University ensemble, gives it a sky horizon free from urban development located below the relief. Besides allowing high-quality of astronomical observations from the observatory, it is a rare Russian and European example of an observatory located in the centre of a city. In the global system of observatories, it holds a unique position since it was the world’s first easternmost point in the world to conduct advanced research on the Earth, Space and its exploration and the Universe. Albeit being harmed in a catastrophic fire that struck Kazan in 1842, the supporting structures of the building were spared whi
Engelhardt Astronomical Observatory
The buildings for the Engelhardt Astronomical Observatory were designed in a Neo-Classicistic Style by architect F. Malinovsky. The observatory was allocated to a park, away from the air pollution and includes both residential buildings and structures for sky observations, specially designed for large-scale observations. The foundation of the observatory is owed to astronomer Vasily Pavlovich Engelhardt and his donation of astronomical equipment to the Kazan University in 1897 (3).
Kazan University and the Exploration of the World
The Department of Astronomy of Kazan University, established in 1810 was the first astronomy academic department to be established in Russia. Among Kazan University’s numerous students of astronomy, mathematics and physics, one should mention Nikolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky (1792–1856), Matvey Matveyevich Gusev (1826–1866) and Ivan Mikhailovich Simonov (1794–1855).
Simonov “entered the University of Kazan in 1808, at the then normal age of 14”. He became a professor of physics at Kazan State University in 1816, and in 1846 became rector of the university. Later, he was the appointed astronomer to the Russian Antarctic Expedition that lasted just over two years, between 1819 and 1821. Because the appointed naturalist failed to join the expedition at Copenhagen, Simonov became the only scientist on the expedition, expanding his responsibilities to include zoology (Bulkeley, 2014). With Fabian Gottlieb Thaddeus von Bellingshausen (1778— 1852), naval officer, cartographer and explorer, they sailed beside others on the race to the discovery of Antarctica in the 1820s.
Albeit historians consider the possibility of Dutch or Spanish seamen discovering Antarctica as early as 1599 (Bulkeley, 2014), there is no certainty about who was the first. Captain James Cook was sure there was something to be found, leading him to spend three years searching for it on his second voyage from 1772-1775. Albeit not finding what he was looking for, his expedition was indeed the first to cross the Antarctic Circle. The first to lay eyes on the Antarctic mainland is debated to be between the Russian Antarctic Expedition and British naval officer Edward Bransfield aboard Williams. The difference between the two is a couple of days, privileging the former candidate.
Besides astronomical observations and world expeditions, Simonov’s investigation included the design of a reflector and studies of terrestrial magnetism. With Lobachevsky, they catalysed the foundation of the Observatory of Kazan Imperial University. They supplied it with modern equipment (9-inch refractor, meridian circle, heliometer and some others) Simonov himself oversaw the purchase and shipment of from Vienna and Paris (Bulkeley, 2014).
Scientific collaboration with many Russian and international astronomical units is maintained by the Kazan astronomical school. Among them, one can find several observatories in Russia and Ukraine, and Astronomical departments in Latvia, Estonia, the Netherlands, Spain, Germany, Great Britain and the USA.
Astronomical Observatories of Kazan Federal University as World Heritage
Astronomical Observatories of Kazan Federal University as World Heritage
Today and since 2023, the Astronomical Observatories of Kazan Federal University are protected by UNESCO’s World Heritage Convention upon the (II) and (IV) criteria (4) – a decision based on landscape, urban planning, and architectural and historical values (Nadyrova. 2021).
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(1) Britannica’s article on the History of Astronomy is quite informative on the matter.
(2) The dome as a characteristic feature of observatories was invented around 1800. Observatory of Kazan Imperial University is one of the first three observatories with the innovative design of a single building with three domes – the remaining are the Helsinki Observatory, built by Carl Ludwig Engel (1778–1840), and Pulkovo Observatory, St. Petersburg, built by Alexander Brjullow (1798–1877) in 1839. (Wolfschmidt, 2021)
(3) Because of his elderly age and health, Engelhardt quit his profession and gifted all of the tools and library from his observatory in Dresden to Kazan University, under the condition the instruments had to be installed as quickly as feasible. Thus, in the following year the Emperor signed an edict establishing the site for the building of the Astronomical Observatory, named after the benefactor. (Astronomy And World Heritage: Across Time And Continents, 2009).
(4) Because of his elderly age and health, Engelhardt quit his profession and gifted all of the tools and library from his observatory in Dresden to Kazan University, under the condition the instruments had to be installed as quickly as feasible. Thus, in the following year the Emperor signed an edict establishing the site for the building of the Astronomical Observatory, named after the benefactor. (Astronomy And World Heritage: Across Time And Continents, 2009).
(5) criteria: (ii) “to exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design”; (iv) “to be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history” (UNESCO).
References:
‘Astronomy And World Heritage: Across Time And Continents’ (2009) in.
History of astronomy (no date) Encyclopædia Britannica. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/science/astronomy/History-of-astronomy (Accessed: 21 January 2024).
Bulkeley, R. (2022) The historiography of the first Russian antarctic expedition, 1819-21. Cham: SPRINGER NATURE.
Bulkeley, R. (2014) Bellingshausen and the russian antarctic expedition: 1819-21. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Centre, U.W.H. (no date) The criteria for selection, UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Available at: https://whc.unesco.org/en/criteria/ (Accessed: 21 January 2024).
Nadyrova, K. (2021) ‘Astronomical observatory as an identifier of the architectural ensemble of Kazan Imperial University’, E3S Web of Conferences, 274, p. 01035. doi:10.1051/e3sconf/202127401035.
Wolfschmidt, Gudrun. (2021). Wolfschmidt, Gudrun: Heritage of Astronomical Observatories in the context of the Thematic Initiative on Heritage of “Astronomy, Science and Technology”. In: Proceedings of the Conference in Kazan (Dez. 2019) “Historical, Cultural and Scientific Heritage of Astronomical Observatories”. Heritage and Modern Times – ТЕОРИЯ И ИСТОРИЯ КУЛЬТУРЫ 3 (2020), No. 3, p. 17-29.
