“Holy scriptures by the manner of its language transcends every science, because in one and the same sentence,

while it describes a fact, it reveals a mystery.”

–Pope Gregory

One of the influential organization in the history of astronomy but also the most astonishing; the Vatican where millions of people gather at Saint Peters to hark the Pope, but the Vatican is much more than a man and a square, it’s a city-state with a tiny population.

Vatican is also the home to the Vatican observatory and its astronomers have played a major role in science with a dozen priest scientists, trying to explain creation itself.

In the Tower of the Winds built in 1580, a room full of murals of ancient Romans, perched above on of the greatest room of the Vatican. The function of this room was actually a very accurate sundial, as the significance of astronomical events like the solstice and the equinox were more out of the kilter which were occurring earlier and earlier in the year, therefore making the millennia calendar dysfunctional. By the 16th century, the calendar was nearly two weeks out. In simple terms, the number of days in the calendar year didn’t match the passage of the seasons. It helped these scientists to compare the astronomical date of the equinox with the calendar date.

It enabled them to work out how far the calendar has slipped and get it back on track. After 7 years of diligent study, Pope Gregory 13th concluded that a valid length of a year was 365 days, creating the Gregorian calendar that we use today.