PRINCE A METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY DE MONACO

Changes in atmospheric pressure in the Azores influence the climate of a vast geographical area. Aware of this phenomenon, Prince Albert ^I of Monaco promoted the construction of the Horta observatory on the top of Monte das Moças, overlooking the port, at the very beginning of the ^20th century. Completed in 1915, it was linked to Lisbon, Paris, London, Hamburg and Washington by the submarine telegraph cables that had been installed between North America and Europe since 1893. The observatory is still one of the four reference stations in the global climatology network, and undoubtedly the most important one for determining forecasts for western Europe. The Azores are considered the meteorological capital of the continent. While the observatory still holds all the observation tools used by our ancestors - rain gauges, barometers and telescopes - forecasts are now fully automated and computerized.

Today, the building also houses a volcanological observation and monitoring station, as well as a seismographic recording station. A full-time seismologist collects data, analyzes and monitors the many earthquakes that occur daily in the region. The building's cellar houses several seismographs, including the island's very first seismograph, installed when the Capelinhos volcano erupted in 1957.