Why this ride
80 km from Taytsy to Taytsy, about 1 h 32 of riding. It goes by way of Prioratsky Park, Highway Pushkin - Gatchina and back through Prioratsky Park.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The Palace and Park Ensemble of the Villag and Highway Pushkin - Gatchina
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 80 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 32
- 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
The Palace and Park Ensemble of the Villag → Prioratsky Park
This part of the ride is 13 km of The Palace and Park Ensemble of the Villag → Prioratsky Park.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 13 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. The Palace and Park Ensemble of the Villag
The village of Taitsy, south of Saint Petersburg near Krasnoye Selo, is home to an estate built in the eighteenth century for the Demidov family, the industrial dynasty whose fortune came from iron and metalworks in the Urals. The classical manor house, attributed to the architect Ivan Starov, stands in a landscape park with ponds and springs, and those springs mattered far beyond the estate: the Taitsy water conduit, built in the eighteenth century, carried water from here to the palaces and fountains of Tsarskoye Selo.
Read the complete The Palace and Park Ensemble of the Villag write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The Palace and Park Ensemble of the Villag is where the day begins. Next is Prioratsky Park.
2. 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 comes up about 13 km into the recorded legs. Next is Highway Pushkin - Gatchina.
3. Highway Pushkin - Gatchina
Two imperial palaces lie at either end of this road, and between them the flat country south of Saint Petersburg still carries the scars of the twentieth century's worst siege. At the northern end is Pushkin, the former Tsarskoye Selo, where the Catherine Palace stretches its blue and white façade for hundreds of metres and the reconstructed Amber Room glows inside. At the southern end is Gatchina, Paul I's palace, grey and fortress-like, in a park of lakes and islands. The historic road between them is one of the many components of the World Heritage Site of the historic centre of Saint Petersburg and its related monuments.
Read the complete Highway Pushkin - Gatchina write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 41 km into the recorded legs you reach Highway Pushkin - Gatchina. Next is back through Prioratsky Park.
4. back through 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
back through Prioratsky Park, late in the day. Next is The Palace and Park Ensemble of the Villag.
5. The Palace and Park Ensemble of the Villag
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Palace and Park Ensemble of the Villag write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at The Palace and Park Ensemble of the Villag. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
The Palace and Park Ensemble of the Villag to Prioratsky Park
The Palace and Park Ensemble of the Villag → Prioratsky Park is 13 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Prioratsky Park to Highway Pushkin - Gatchina
Prioratsky Park → Highway Pushkin - Gatchina is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Highway Pushkin - Gatchina to back through Prioratsky Park
Highway Pushkin - Gatchina → back through Prioratsky Park is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Prioratsky Park to The Palace and Park Ensemble of the Villag
back through Prioratsky Park → The Palace and Park Ensemble of the Villag is 14 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.