Abstract
In the article, the author examines the building of the Astronomical Observatory (1833-1837), which was a part of the architectural ensemble of Kazan Imperial University in the first third of the 19th-early 20th centuries (now – Kazan Federal University). The primary purpose of the study is to identify the specific features of the university ensemble. The task is to set the value of the Astronomical Observatory as the basic identifier of the ensemble. The research methodology is based on the theory of identity in architecture and urban planning and the application of a systematic analysis of the ensemble and its components. The author determined the importance of the Astronomical Observatory's building in the university ensemble in the context of the theory of identity. The features of the space-planning solution of the observatory building, its placement in the city landscape, and its great importance in the formation and development of astronomical science in Kazan allow us to conclude that the Astronomical Observatory was one of the identifiers of Kazan Imperial University ensemble. The significance of the research results lies in the development of the theory of identity when one of the objects of the ensemble becomes its identification code.