The Palace and Park Ensemble of the Villag and Lindulovskaya Roshcha

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. The Palace and Park Ensemble of the Villag

   Ropsha is one of those places where the scenery is gentle and the history is anything but. The village sits on the low Izhora Upland southwest of St Petersburg, between Krasnoe Selo and the coast road at Lomonosov, and the palace that gives the estate its name looks down over a chain of spring-fed ponds and a slow, wooded park. It was here, in July 1762, that the freshly deposed Emperor Peter III was held after his wife Catherine seized the throne, and here that he died a few days later under circumstances nobody at court cared to explain. Catherine became "the Great"; Ropsha became a footnote with a chill on it.

   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 The Shuvalov's.

2. 2. The Shuvalov's

   The Shuvalovs were one of the great families of eighteenth-century Russia, and a member of the clan, Ivan Shuvalov, was the favourite of Empress Elizabeth and the patron who helped found Moscow University and the Academy of Arts in the 1750s. Another branch of the family later owned the estate at Pargolovo, on the northern edge of Saint Petersburg, where a palace and landscaped park were laid out with ponds, avenues and pavilions in the nineteenth century. The park is now a public space, with lakes that freeze in winter and a canopy of old trees, and it is a favourite for walks.

   Read the complete The Shuvalov's write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   The Shuvalov's comes up about 67 km into the recorded legs. Next is Lindulovskaya Roshcha.

3. 3. Lindulovskaya Roshcha

   Out on the Karelian Isthmus, in a landscape of pine, birch and sandy soil, stands a grove of larches that looks entirely out of place. The Lindulovskaya Grove was planted in 1738 by an admiral, Fyodor Soimonov, who wanted to grow shipbuilding timber for the Russian navy, and he chose Siberian larch, a durable and rot-resistant wood. Some of the trees are nearly three centuries old and very tall, and the grove is protected as a natural monument, the oldest planted larch forest in Russia. Walking among the trunks, with their orange-grey bark, and the soft light filtering through the needles, is surprisingly moving.

   Read the complete Lindulovskaya Roshcha write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 129 km into the recorded legs you reach Lindulovskaya Roshcha. Next is back through The Shuvalov's.

4. 4. back through The Shuvalov's

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete The Shuvalov's write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through The Shuvalov's, late in the day. Next is The Palace and Park Ensemble of the Villag.

5. 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.