On Thursday, April 9, 2026, the University of Montpellier inaugurated the restored astronomical pavilion at the Jardin des Plantes de Montpellier. Present at the inauguration were Philippe Augé, president of the University of Montpellier, Isabelle Laffont, dean of the Faculty of Medicine of Montpellier-Nîmes, and John De Vos, director of the Jardin des Plantes de Montpellier.
Fully financed by the University of Montpellier, this restoration project amounting to €122,000 highlights an iconic element of Montpellier’s scientific heritage.
A witness to Montpellier’s scientific history, in the late 18th century, the city sought a new astronomical observation site after the observatory in the Babote tower was abolished in 1793. In 1877, the astronomy professor Jean-Nicolas Legrand’s legacy enabled the acquisition of a Foucault telescope, considered cutting-edge at the time. A pavilion was built at the Jardin des Plantes to accommodate it, at the request of Professor Andrée Crova, holder of the physics chair at the Faculty of Sciences.
The site, approved by astronomer Urbain Le Verrier in 1862, was chosen for its relative distance from urban nuisances, conducive to astronomical observation. The pavilion was inaugurated on July 28, 1879, during the observation of the occultation of the star Antares by the Moon.
However, the construction of the pavilion did not receive unanimous approval. Charles Martins, the Jardin’s director and a medicine faculty professor, opposed it, fearing the site’s humidity could damage the equipment. A controversy ensued with the science faculty teachers, requiring arbitration from the Minister of Public Instruction, who ultimately approved the project.
By the beginning of the 20th century, the dome’s condition deteriorated. The pavilion’s use gradually declined, leading to the removal of the telescope in 1964, transferred to the University of Sciences and Techniques of Languedoc.
Temporarily transformed into a planetarium in 1988, the astronomical pavilion now enters a new phase of its history with this restoration. It now embodies a heritage, educational, and symbolic dimension.
This restoration revives an emblematic element of the university heritage, enriching visitors’ experience at the Jardin des Plantes de Montpellier.
