The visitor’s centre of the National Observatory of Athens will be conducting evening tours in English offering the public the opportunity to peer through the 8 metre dome of the Doridis telescope and enjoy the Athenian sky from the Hill of the Nymphs, opposite the Acropolis.
** Note as a precaution for the Coronavirus, the tours are postponed until further notice. New dates are TBA by the Observatory for April. Please refer back to this page in April 2020 for updates. **
Inside the domed building of the Doridis telescope. Photograph: Theofanis Matsopoulos.
The Doridis refracting telescope was built by the French company P.F. Gautier in 1902. It is housed in a building designed by Ernst Ziller, a short distance from the Sinas building. It was used for the first time at the eclipse of the sun on 30th August, 1905.
The telescope was out of use for nearly half a century due to the lack of resources. In 2014 it was completely restored thanks to a generous donation made by telecommunications company OTE-COSMOTE.
Other highlights:
The Sina building at the National Observatory of Athens has some of the first telescopes of Greece, including the meridian refractor of G. Bouris (1846). It also houses the Geoastrophysics museum and observatory library.
Observatory Tour Days:
Tours will be conducted in English (duration: one hour) at a cost of 5 euros per person each Wednesday, Friday and Saturday evening at 8pm. See the NOA website for more details.
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