摘要: Comparison with other similar properties　　There are about 500 observatories in the world, most of which are located in the northern hemisphere of the Earth. The most famous are astronomical observator

Comparison with other similar properties

　　There are about 500 observatories in the world, most of which are located in the northern hemisphere of the Earth. The most famous are astronomical observatories to study stars, galaxies, planets and other celestial objects. There are also meteorological observatories for weather observation; geophysical observatories for study of atmospheric phenomena, in particular – polar lights; seismic stations for registration of vibrations caused in the Earth by earthquakes and volcanoes; observatories for observation of cosmic rays and neutrinos. Many observatories are equipped not only with serial instruments for registration of natural phenomena, but also with unique instruments providing the highest sensitivity and accuracy under specific observation conditions.

　　The staff of the former observatories were priests and ministers of religion. The Chaldeans built ziggurats or temple observatories; the Chinese had them as branch departments of the mathematical tribunal. Since ancient times there were observatories in Beijing, Luoyang and other cities; the Egyptian pyramids, judging by the orientation of their sides with respect to cardinal directions, were also built to produce famous astronomical observations; traces of the existence of the former observatories were found in India, Persia, Peru and Mexico. In addition to large government observatories, private ones were also built in ancient times, such as the well-known Eudox Observatory in Cnidus. The main tools of the ancient observatories were: a gnomon for systematic observation of the midday heights of the sun, a disk dial and clepsydras to measure time; some people observed the moon and its phases, planets, moments of sunrise and sunset of celestial bodies, their passage through the meridian, solar and lunar eclipses without the help of tools.

　　The first observatory in the modern sense was the famous museum in Alexandria, organized by Ptolemy II Philadelphus. A number of astronomers such as Aristill, Timoharis, Hipparchus, Aristarchus, Eratosfen, Heminus, Ptolemy and others raised this institution to an unprecedented level. Here, for the first time, instruments with divided circles were used. Aristarchus installed a copper circle on the portico of the museum in the equator plane and with its help observed directly the time of the Sun's passage through the equinox points. Hipparchus invented astrolabe with two mutually perpendicular circles and dioptrae for observations.

　　After destruction of  Alexandria museum with all its collections and instruments - observatories started to be organized again by Arabs and nations conquered by them; there appeared observatories in Baghdad, Cairo, Maragheh (Nasir al-Din al-Tusi), Samarkand (Ulugh-Beg’s) and so on. Arab scientist Geber set up an observatory in Seville, the oldest in Europe. From the beginning of the XVI century it was in Europe that the construction of observatories began, first private, and then governmental: Regiomontanus set up an observatory in Nuremberg (1471), Wilhelm IV, the Landgrave of Hesse, in Kassel (1561) and others. The famous Tycho Brahe used his entire fortune of over 100,000 Krone for the buildings and tools for his observatory on the island of Hven, near Copenhagen. He was the first in Europe to use metal instruments with circles separated after 1'. The private observatory of Hevelius was also very famous.

　　Since the early 2000s, the experts of the World Heritage Center have drawn attention to the lack of astronomical heritage sites on the World Heritage List. In this regard, as part of the global strategy to develop the UNESCO World Heritage List, a pilot project "Astronomy and World Heritage Thematic Initiative" was launched in 2003 in order to identify and inscribe sites related to astronomy on the World Heritage List. The project has several objectives: to establish a link between science and culture for the identification and recognition of objects related to astronomical observations; to identify the variety of objects on this subject that are scattered in different geographical regions; and to link scientific and traditional local knowledge in the study of astronomical heritage.

　　This thematic initiative offers State Parties to the UNESCO Convention "Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage" the opportunity to assess and recognize the importance of a new type of cultural heritage for the enrichment of human history and display of cultural diversity. The sky is an integral part of the general environment perceived by humanity, and the inclusion of the interpretation of the sky as a theme in the world heritage is a natural logical step. Such a step is necessary to recognize and protect cultural values and cultural landscapes that define and decipher the relationship between mankind and the sky. Close and continuous interaction between astronomical knowledge and its role in human culture is an important element of outstanding universal value.

　　At the moment the UNESCO World Heritage List includes 9 astronomical sites:

1. Pulkovo Observatory (as part of the UNESCO-protected site "Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments"(Russia, 1990, ref. 540 bis);
2. Maritime Greenwich (London, Great Britain, 1997, ref. 795);
3. Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites (Great Britain, 1986, ref.373 bis);
4. Jantar Mantar in Jaipur (India, 2010, ref. 1338 );
5. Dengfeng Observatory as a part of "Historic Monuments of Dengfeng in “The Centre of Heaven and Earth" nomination. (China, 2010, Ref.1305rev);
6. Ulugh-Beg's Observatory as a part of the nomination "Samarkand – Сrossroad of cultures". (Uzbekistan, 2001, Ref: 603rev);
7. "Struve Geodetic Arc" (Belarus, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Republic of Moldova, Russian Federation, Sweden, Ukraine, 2005, ref. 1178);
8. Jodrell Bank Observatory (United Kingdom, 2019, Ref.1594);
9. Cultural landscape of Risco Caido and the sacred mountains of Gran Canaria (Spain, 2019, Ref.1578 ).

　　Out of the four sites inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List under the Astronomy and World Heritage Initiative (Dengfeng, Jantar Mantar, Jodrell Bank, Risco