Former Site of Zi-Ka-Wei Observatory

Catholic Historic Buildings in Xujiahui。 Located at No.166 Puxi Road, the Romanesque three-floor building was built from 1899 to 1901. The facade has a three-section layout. There is a brick-and-wood anemometer tower in the middle of the building. A large clock, the gift of a French countess, is installed on the face of the main building. It played music each quarter and tolled each hour to provide a time service for surrounding residents. In 1873, Zi-Ka-Wei Observatory broke ground on the west bank of Zhaojiabang in Xujiahui. Assigned by the International Astronomical Union to keep standard time, the observatory joined two international longitude determination operations in 1926 and 1933, and became one of the world’s three gravity acceleration datum points. The observatory was taken over by Shanghai Military Control Committee in 1950, and was later managed by Purple Mountain Observatory of CAS and converted into a meteorological observatory. Zi-Ka-Wei Observatory was announced by Shanghai Municipal People's Government as Shanghai Municipality Outstanding Heritage Architecture on October 31, 2005, and as Shanghai Municipality Cultural Relics Protection Unit on April 4, 2014.