Why this ride
A 171 km round trip from Krasnoye Selo - roughly 3 h 42 in the saddle. The stops in between: Pulkovskaya Observatory, Historical Centre of the Town of Pavlovsk, Volkhonskoe Highway and The Monastery Troitse-Sergieva Pustin.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Dudergofskaya Elevation and The Monastery Troitse-Sergieva Pustin
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 171 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 42
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Dudergofskaya Elevation
The land around St Petersburg is almost perfectly flat, so any hill gets noticed. The Duderhof Heights, a pair of wooded hills rising south of the city near Krasnoye Selo, are the highest ground for many kilometres around, with the higher one, Voronya Gora or Crow Hill, reaching a little under two hundred metres above sea level. From the top, on a clear day, you can see the gilded domes of the city and the waters of the Gulf of Finland.
Read the complete Dudergofskaya Elevation write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Dudergofskaya Elevation is where the day begins. Next is Pulkovskaya Observatory.
2. Pulkovskaya Observatory
On the Pulkovo heights, the low ridge south of St Petersburg, an observatory has been watching the sky since 1839. It was founded by Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve, the German-born astronomer who became its first director, and it quickly became one of the leading observatories in the world, with the largest refracting telescope of its day. The Pulkovo meridian, running through the observatory's main building, served as the reference for Russian maps for many years. Struve also led the measurement of the Struve Geodetic Arc, a chain of survey triangulations stretching from the Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea, which helped determine the size and shape of the earth and is now a UNESCO site.
Read the complete Pulkovskaya Observatory write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Pulkovskaya Observatory comes up about 31 km into the recorded legs. Next is Historical Centre of the Town of Pavlovsk.
3. Historical Centre of the Town of Pavlovsk
Pavlovsk was a gift. In 1777 Catherine the Great gave her son Paul, the future emperor, a stretch of forest and meadow south of Saint Petersburg, and he and his wife Maria Feodorovna turned it into one of the most elegant country residences in Russia. The Scottish architect Charles Cameron designed the palace, a pale yellow building with a shallow dome and a colonnade, and the park, which spreads over some six hundred hectares, was laid out in the English landscape manner, with winding paths, little bridges and pavilions half hidden among the trees. It is among the largest landscape parks in Europe, and walking in it on a quiet morning is a joy.
Read the complete Historical Centre of the Town of Pavlovsk write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 53 km into the recorded legs you reach Historical Centre of the Town of Pavlovsk. Next is Volkhonskoe Highway.
4. Volkhonskoe Highway
The Volkhonskoe Highway is not a scenic mountain road but a historic route on the southern edge of Saint Petersburg, running out from the city towards Gorelovo and the old road to Krasnoye Selo. It belongs to the network of eighteenth and nineteenth century highways that linked the capital with the imperial residences and military camps to the south and west, and it is included in the wider protected area of the historic centre of Saint Petersburg and its related monuments. What you see today is a mix of suburban growth, open fields and stretches of tree-lined road, with the ghosts of history underneath.
Read the complete Volkhonskoe Highway write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Volkhonskoe Highway, about halfway. Next is The Monastery Troitse-Sergieva Pustin.
5. The Monastery Troitse-Sergieva Pustin
On the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland, between St Petersburg and Peterhof, the old road runs past a string of palaces and estates that the Russian elite built in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to be near the sea and the court. Among them, near Strelna, stands the Trinity-Sergius Hermitage, a monastery founded in the eighteenth century as a dependency of the great Trinity Lavra of St Sergius near Moscow. It is part of the wide UNESCO listing of St Petersburg's historic centre and the monuments around it.
Read the complete The Monastery Troitse-Sergieva Pustin write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The Monastery Troitse-Sergieva Pustin sits at 71 km, about halfway. Next is back through Volkhonskoe Highway.
6. back through Volkhonskoe Highway
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Volkhonskoe Highway write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Volkhonskoe Highway comes up about 106 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Historical Centre of the Town of Pavlovsk.
7. back through Historical Centre of the Town of Pavlovsk
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Historical Centre of the Town of Pavlovsk write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 127 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Historical Centre of the Town of Pavlovsk. Next is back through Pulkovskaya Observatory.
8. back through Pulkovskaya Observatory
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Pulkovskaya Observatory write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Pulkovskaya Observatory, late in the day. Next is Dudergofskaya Elevation.
9. Dudergofskaya Elevation
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Dudergofskaya Elevation write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 171 km.
Leg by leg
Dudergofskaya Elevation to Pulkovskaya Observatory
Dudergofskaya Elevation → Pulkovskaya Observatory is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Pulkovskaya Observatory to Historical Centre of the Town of Pavlovsk
Pulkovskaya Observatory → Historical Centre of the Town of Pavlovsk is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Historical Centre of the Town of Pavlovsk to Volkhonskoe Highway
Historical Centre of the Town of Pavlovsk → Volkhonskoe Highway is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Volkhonskoe Highway to The Monastery Troitse-Sergieva Pustin
Volkhonskoe Highway → The Monastery Troitse-Sergieva Pustin is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Monastery Troitse-Sergieva Pustin to back through Volkhonskoe Highway
The Monastery Troitse-Sergieva Pustin → back through Volkhonskoe Highway is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Volkhonskoe Highway to back through Historical Centre of the Town of Pavlovsk
back through Volkhonskoe Highway → back through Historical Centre of the Town of Pavlovsk is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Historical Centre of the Town of Pavlovsk to back through Pulkovskaya Observatory
back through Historical Centre of the Town of Pavlovsk → back through Pulkovskaya Observatory is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Pulkovskaya Observatory to Dudergofskaya Elevation
back through Pulkovskaya Observatory → Dudergofskaya Elevation is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.