Why this ride
From Kronstadt it runs 82 km to Kronstadt; allow about 1 h 13 of riding. It goes by way of Gostilitskoe Highway, P.K.Alexandrov's Datcha and back through Gostilitskoe Highway.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Southern battery No. 1 and P.K.Alexandrov's Datcha
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 82 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 13
- 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 23 km this is Saint Petersburg Imperial Shore, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 23 km
- Named road
- Saint Petersburg Imperial Shore
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Southern battery No. 1
Kronstadt town has a face turned to the sea and a back turned to the mainland, and Southern Battery No. 1 stands on the southern shore of Kotlin Island, a few kilometres from the old harbour. It is one of the earth-and-brick gun batteries that formed part of the maritime fortress, built to protect the capital against any fleet that dared to enter the gulf. The island was fortified by Peter the Great, who founded the base here in the early eighteenth century, and it remained one of the great naval stations of the Russian empire.
Read the complete Southern battery No. 1 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Southern battery No. 1 is where the day begins. Next is Gostilitskoe Highway.
2. 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 comes up about 23 km into the recorded legs. Next is P.K.Alexandrov's Datcha, 18 km on.
3. P.K.Alexandrov's Datcha
Strelna lies at the beginning of the road to Peterhof, on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland, and its main feature is the Konstantinovsky Palace, begun in the reign of Peter the Great and named for a later grand duke, Konstantin. Like Peterhof, it was heavily damaged in the Second World War and later rebuilt, and in the early 2000s it was restored for the three-hundredth anniversary of Saint Petersburg. The park, with its canals and ponds, runs down toward the water, and the view across the gulf is wide and grey.
Read the complete P.K.Alexandrov's Datcha write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 48 km into the recorded legs you reach P.K.Alexandrov's Datcha. Next is back through Gostilitskoe Highway.
4. back through Gostilitskoe Highway
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
back through Gostilitskoe Highway, late in the day. Next is Southern battery No. 1, 17 km on.
5. Southern battery No. 1
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Southern battery No. 1 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Southern battery No. 1. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Southern battery No. 1 to Gostilitskoe Highway
Southern battery No. 1 → Gostilitskoe Highway is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Gostilitskoe Highway to P.K.Alexandrov's Datcha
Gostilitskoe Highway → P.K.Alexandrov's Datcha is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
P.K.Alexandrov's Datcha to back through Gostilitskoe Highway
P.K.Alexandrov's Datcha → back through Gostilitskoe Highway is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Gostilitskoe Highway to Southern battery No. 1
back through Gostilitskoe Highway → Southern battery No. 1 is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.