Why this ride
276 km from Gatchina to Gatchina, about 4 h 55 of riding. It goes by way of Volkhonskoe Highway, Historical Centre of the Town of Peterhof, Dudergof and Gostilitskoe Highway. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Prioratsky Park and Gostilitskoe Highway
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 276 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 55
- 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.
Scenic road chapters
Saint Petersburg Imperial Shore
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 30 km this is Saint Petersburg Imperial Shore, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 30 km
- Named road
- Saint Petersburg Imperial Shore
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Prioratsky Park
Gatchina has a palace that most visitors head for first, but the building that makes riders and architects alike stop and stare is the little Priory Palace standing on the shore of Black Lake in Prioratsky Park. It looks like a small Gothic castle with a tower and a chapel, pale and slightly unreal against the water, and it is built of rammed earth. Nikolai Lvov, the architect and polymath, put it up around 1799 for Emperor Paul I, who had made himself Grand Master of the Knights of Malta and wanted a residence to offer the Order. The earth walls, compacted in layers and then plastered, have now survived more than two centuries of Russian winters, which is a better record than plenty of brick.
Read the complete Prioratsky Park write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Prioratsky Park is where the day begins. Next is Volkhonskoe Highway.
2. 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 comes up about 36 km into the recorded legs. Next is Historical Centre of the Town of Peterhof.
3. Historical Centre of the Town of Peterhof
Peter the Great wanted a palace by the sea that would rival Versailles, and he chose this stretch of the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland, about thirty kilometres west of Saint Petersburg. What became Peterhof is a town built around an imperial residence: the Grand Palace on a terrace above the sea, the Grand Cascade of gilded statues and fountains falling toward a canal that runs straight to the water, and parks full of pavilions, including Peter's own small Dutch style house, Monplaisir, right on the shore. The fountains run on gravity, fed by springs on the higher ground inland, a feat of eighteenth century engineering.
Read the complete Historical Centre of the Town of Peterhof write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 66 km into the recorded legs you reach Historical Centre of the Town of Peterhof. Next is Dudergof.
4. Dudergof
South-west of St Petersburg, the flat land of the Neva lowland rises unexpectedly into a pair of wooded hills, the Duderhof heights, the highest ground for many kilometres around. Their name comes from Finnish, and they have long been a landmark, used for military observation since the eighteenth century and as a summer retreat for the people of the capital. In the nineteenth century, the imperial army held its summer manoeuvres around nearby Krasnoye Selo, and the officers' villas and parade grounds became part of the social life of St Petersburg.
Read the complete Dudergof write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Dudergof, about halfway. Next is Gostilitskoe Highway.
5. Gostilitskoe Highway
Peterhof is famous for its fountains, and the road called Gostilitskoe runs along the high ground behind the palace, where the water begins. When Peter the Great decided in the early eighteenth century to build a rival to Versailles on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland, the engineers had a problem, because the ground at the shore is flat, and a fountain needs a head of water. They found springs and ponds on the Ropsha heights, a few kilometres inland, and built a system of canals, reservoirs and pipes that carried water downhill to the palace by gravity alone, without a single pump. That system, the Water-bringing system of Peterhof, still works, and it is a marvel of its time.
Read the complete Gostilitskoe Highway write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Gostilitskoe Highway sits at 138 km, about halfway. Next is back through Dudergof.
6. back through Dudergof
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Dudergof write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Dudergof comes up about 178 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Historical Centre of the Town of Peterhof.
7. back through Historical Centre of the Town of Peterhof
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Historical Centre of the Town of Peterhof write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 214 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Historical Centre of the Town of Peterhof. Next is back through Volkhonskoe Highway.
8. 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, late in the day. Next is Prioratsky Park.
9. Prioratsky Park
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Prioratsky Park 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 276 km.
Leg by leg
Prioratsky Park to Volkhonskoe Highway
Prioratsky Park → Volkhonskoe Highway is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Volkhonskoe Highway to Historical Centre of the Town of Peterhof
Volkhonskoe Highway → Historical Centre of the Town of Peterhof is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Historical Centre of the Town of Peterhof to Dudergof
Historical Centre of the Town of Peterhof → Dudergof is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Dudergof to Gostilitskoe Highway
Dudergof → Gostilitskoe Highway is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Gostilitskoe Highway to back through Dudergof
Gostilitskoe Highway → back through Dudergof is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Dudergof to back through Historical Centre of the Town of Peterhof
back through Dudergof → back through Historical Centre of the Town of Peterhof is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Historical Centre of the Town of Peterhof to back through Volkhonskoe Highway
back through Historical Centre of the Town of Peterhof → back through Volkhonskoe Highway is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Volkhonskoe Highway to Prioratsky Park
back through Volkhonskoe Highway → Prioratsky Park is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
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