Why this ride
82 km from Taytsy to Taytsy, about 1 h 30 of riding. On the way it passes Prioratsky Park, Yu.P.Samoilova's Villa and back through Prioratsky Park. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The Palace and Park Ensemble of the Villag and Yu.P.Samoilova's Villa
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 82 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 30
- 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
13 km on 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 Yu.P.Samoilova's Villa, 21 km on.
3. Yu.P.Samoilova's Villa
Countess Yulia Samoilova is the sort of figure that the nineteenth century produced in numbers: rich, independent, beautiful, fond of artists and impatient with convention. She was a society woman who spent much of her life abroad, especially in Italy, and who is remembered in Russian painting as the muse of a famous artist. A villa on the southern edge of Saint Petersburg's estates bears her name, and it sits in the quiet country between Pavlovsk and Gatchina, in a landscape of old parks, small rivers and pine woods.
Read the complete Yu.P.Samoilova's Villa write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 42 km into the recorded legs you reach Yu.P.Samoilova's Villa. 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 Yu.P.Samoilova's Villa
Prioratsky Park → Yu.P.Samoilova's Villa is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Yu.P.Samoilova's Villa to back through Prioratsky Park
Yu.P.Samoilova's Villa → back through Prioratsky Park is 27 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.