Belvedere Castle

Sitting at the top of a high rock in the center of Central Park, Belvedere Castle offers visitors two balconies from which to view some of Central Park's most popular sites.

Originally constructed in 1865 by two architects who built it just for show, the castle has become an attraction to many visitors over the years. In 1919 the National Weather Service began to take weather measurements from the castle, and it is still used for this purpose today. In 1983 the castle was renovated and began serving as the Henry Luce Nature Observatory.

Inside the castle, patrons can view natural history artifacts, telescopes, and microscopes. The Nature Observatory also provides binoculars for bird watching. The castle opens for visitors Tuesday through Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The Belvedere Castle is just 15 to 20 minutes west of LaGuardia International Airport. The museum is within walking distance of the New York Historical society, the Guggenheim, and American Museum of Natural History. and is near other tourist sites that include the Empire State Building, New York Skyride, Grand Central Station, MoMA, Carnegie Hall, Ground Zero, Rockefeller Plaza, Central Park, Times Square, the Theater District, Whitney Museum of American Art, Central Park Zoo, and Mission of St. Kitts and Nevis and St. Patrick's Cathedral, to name a few.