At the world-famous English town of Greenwich has something similar with the two suburbs of St. Petersburg – Pulkovo Observatory and the famous Strelna, with its Naval Academy named after Admiral Makarov. Greenwich is part of the so-called Greater London, also Pulkovo Strelna located in St. Petersburg. Similarity even in the fact that access to Greenwich can be reached by water from the Victoria Embankment in London, as in Peterhof – from the Palace Embankment.

Greenwich, though is not on the beach, yet is truly a maritime city. And the famous sailing ship “Cutty Sark”, set in the dock – proof of this. The most high-speed tea clipper was designed specifically to by delivering Chinese leaf tea did not have time to rot or otsyret. Greenwich is proud of its National Maritime Museum. And also in this city is old Maritime College, created Christopher Renom. But, of course, the most important attraction is still the Royal Observatory, planted in August 1675.

She also set up to ease navigation. While the most important objective Astronomy has been precisely to determine longitude. Because of the impossibility of determining longitude shipwreck occurred, and many other problems, such as, for example, the inability to re-open previously to find navigators of the earth. The British long to find a solution to this problem. Having built his own observatory, scientists have identified a meridian zero. But only in 1884 International Conference officially meridianskaya recognized and recorded in the Greenwich meridian – zero. And from that time he became a lap vremyaischisleniem on earth. Following this, one European country after another to join such vremyaischisleniyu. But Russia has recognized the this system of reporting time only in 1919. To this day, Pulkovo Observatory works closely with the Observatory at Greenwich.