Information About Belvedere Castle

Location: Mid-Park at 79th Street

Details: (212) 772-0210

Hours: 10am-5pm, Tuesday- Sunday



One of the most enchanting spectacles in Central Park, New York City, is Belvedere Castle.
Belvedere means 'beautiful view' or 'panoramic view' in Italian and the castle provides impressive views across Central Park and New York. Belvedere Castle sits upon Vista Rock, the second highest natural elevation in Central Park, New York City. It was designed as an additional feature of the Central Park "Greensward" plan by Calvert Vaux and the sculptor Jacob Wrey Mould, when the team of Olmsted, Vaux and Mould were reappointed to oversee the park's construction once again in 1865. It was built in 1869. The castle provided a feature— a folly— that capped the natural-looking woodlands of The Ramble, as seen from the formal Bethesda Terrace. As the plantings matured, the castle has disappeared from its original intended viewpoint.



When it was built, the view from Belvedere Castle provided a vista over the rectangular receiving reservoir, which has been replaced by the 55-acre Great Lawn, an oval of turf with baseball diamonds, loosely defined by plantings of trees in clumps in the manner of the English landscape garden and Turtle Pond, redesigned in 1997 as a naturalistic planting, in which no single vantage-point reveals the water's full extent. Sunken concrete shelving at varying depths provide ideal water depths for shoreline plants such as lizard's tail, bullrush, turtlehead, and blueflag iris. The success of habitat for birds, insects, amphibians, and reptiles is embodied in sightings of species of dragon-fly not previously sighted in Central Park.




From its perch on an immense outcropping of bedrock called Vista Rock visitors to the Park can be enthralled by the view of the Delacorte Theater, Turtle Pond and the Great Lawn far below. This Victorian structure with its two balconies rises up on one of the highest natural
elevations in the Park. It is a silhouette of distinction from the surrounding landscape
and a mystery to behold as it appears through the tree branches to visitors who
approach through the dense underbrush of the Ramble.

The Castle is also the home of the Henry Luce Nature Observatory. With its medieval stairways and ancient ambience along with the carefully thought out exhibits
youngsters have a grand opportunity to learn about nature and the Park in a
compelling environment. On the main level, nature exhibits with telescopes and
microscopes are available to provide an extended dimension to the learning experience.

The Castle’s second floor contains a plywood tree filled with papier mâché reproductions
of birds often seen in Central Park. Recorded bird songs can be called up at the push of a
button. Visitors of all ages can borrow Discovery Kits that contain binoculars, reference material and maps for exploring either the many species of birds in the Ramble, or the aquatic life at the edge of Turtle Pond.

The Castle also provides up-to-the-minute weather reports given to anyone who requests a forecast. A voice from a box announces,” The Temperature in Central Park is…" Twirling meteorological instruments located atop the tower access information regarding weather conditions. The U.S. Weather Bureau has collected data at this site since 1919.




Belvedere Castle provides a panoramic view in almost every direction. It is also perhaps the most magical monument in Central Park, one that combines function, form and romance - all in one convenient, central location.