Wooden fan, the silk leaf printed with a view of the meteorological observatory at the top of the Puy-de-Dôme and the Gallo-Roman ruins, the Temple of Mercury

Signed L. Chatain for the painter and glass painter Lucien Chatain (1846-1886)

Published by A. Masfara, Clermont-Ferrand

Good condition (a little missing at the top of one stick)

H : 29 cm

The Puy-de-Dôme meteorological observatory was designed in 1869 by Émile Alluard, professor of physics at the Clermont-Ferrand Faculty of Science.

A 9-metre-high round tower was erected between 1871 and 1876 to observe and monitor meteors. A chalet, also serving as a telegraph office, was added for the guards (and their families) responsible for transmitting continuous reports.

During construction of the world's first mountain observatory, archaeological digs conducted by the Clermont-Ferrand Academy of Sciences and later under the direction of Louis-Clémentin Bruyerre (French architect of historic monuments) uncovered the remains of a Gallo-Roman temple (2nd century). This monumental terraced complex (over 3,600 m2), mainly dedicated to Mercury, god of travelers and merchants, was one of the most important pilgrimage shrines of the Western Roman Empire.