The Royal Observatory is the most famous building in Greenwich, here passes the zero meridian, the imaginary line that divides the World into east and west.
Founded in 1657 by King Charles II, it aimed to establish an astronomical transit system that would be the same throughout the world. A couple of centuries later the meridian 0° of Greenwich was fixed, which represents the center of world time and the division between east and west.
In the halls of the Observatory there is the astronomical museum with numerous exhibits such as the first Tompion clocks and the drafts for the construction of the first telescopes.
In 1997, the area known as Maritime Greenwich was included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
