The Palace and Park Ensemble of the Villag and Schlisselburg. Old Ladoga and New Ladoga c

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 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 Northern battery No. 1, 79 km on.

2. 2. Northern battery No. 1

   Kotlin Island is a long, thin sliver of land in the Gulf of Finland, and Kronstadt, its fortress-town, was founded by Peter the Great in 1704 to guard the sea approaches to his new capital. It became the base of the Russian Baltic Fleet, and ring after ring of forts, batteries and ramparts was built on the island and on artificial islands around it. The Northern Battery No. 1 is one of those fortifications, a low military work on the north shore of Kotlin, part of a defensive system that went on being added to for more than two centuries.

   Read the complete Northern battery No. 1 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Northern battery No. 1 comes up about 68 km into the recorded legs. Next is Schlisselburg. Old Ladoga and New Ladoga c, 79 km on.

3. 3. Schlisselburg. Old Ladoga and New Ladoga c

   The fortress at Shlisselburg is built on an island in the river, at the very spot where the Neva leaves Lake Ladoga, and whoever held it held the water road between the Baltic and the heart of Russia. The Novgorodians built the first wooden walls in 1323, and called the place Oreshek, which means little nut, after the island's shape. Over the next four centuries it passed between Russians and Swedes, until in 1702 Peter the Great stormed it on his way to the sea, and renamed it Schlusselburg, the key fortress, a key that would unlock the Baltic. Within a year he had founded Saint Petersburg downstream.

   Read the complete Schlisselburg. Old Ladoga and New Ladoga c write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 173 km into the recorded legs you reach Schlisselburg. Old Ladoga and New Ladoga c. Next is back through Northern battery No. 1, 79 km on.

4. 4. back through Northern battery No. 1

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Northern 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 through Northern battery No. 1, 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.