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Origin and history

The Meridian of Manchecourt, also known as the astronomical obelisk, is a memorial erected in 1748 on the route of the meridian of Paris. Situated on the lower side of the Route départementale 2152, north of the village of Manchecourt (Loiret, Centre-Val de Loire), this 7-metre-high stone obelisk rests on a parallelepipedic base and is surmounted by a sphere ended by a pick iron. Its faces are oriented according to the cardinal points, and a medallion on the south face bears the inscription: "Meridienne de l'observatoire de Paris established by Cassini in 1748". It is part of a network of about a hundred obelisks designed by César-François Cassini to mark the meridian, as part of the triangulation work that led to the creation of the Cassini map.

During the French Revolution, the obelisk, perceived as a symbol of the Ancien Régime, suffered degradations: its flower of summital lilies was replaced by a prick iron, then it was shot down in 1794 and its stones used to encroach the road. Under pressure from the astronomy societies, the inhabitants of Manchecourt rebuilt it at their own expense in 1795. Ranked a historic monument in 1916, it was moved to the lower side of the road in 1931 for security reasons. Today, it is one of the three surviving obelisks of the original project, with those of Paris and Orveau-Bellesauve, located 4.65 km north.

This monument reflects the scientific advances of the eighteenth century in geodesy, an essential discipline for modern mapping. The meridian of Paris, measured by Cassini and Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in the 1740s, served as a reference for the map of Cassini, the first precise representation of the kingdom of France. The Meridian of Manchecourt, through its conservation and restoration, also illustrates the political tensions around scientific symbols during the Revolution, as well as the local attachment to this astronomical heritage. Its move in 1931 reflects the necessary adaptations to modernise road infrastructure, while preserving its historical integrity.

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