Duderhof Heights

Categories / City Topography/Geographical Objects/Hills and Heights
DUDERHOF HEIGHTS a group of hills of glacial origin in the south of St. Petersburg eastwards from Krasnoe Selo and the Ligovo-Gatchina Railway. In the early 18th century they were known as the Duderhof Hills later Duderhof Heights (from Lappish "dudder" - "mountain" and German "Hof" - "yard"). There are four ridges within the heights: the western Lagernaya Ridge, Duderhof Ridge laying eastwards with the Orekhovaya Mountain as its highest point (176 meters above the sea level); Voronya Mountain (147 meters), Lysaya Mountain in the north (112 meters); Kirchhof Ridge eastwards, Kavelakhtinskaya Ridge south-eastwards. The hill is comprised of Cambrian clay deposits topped by Ordovician rocks and quaternary deposits. In the north-west, the Duderhof Heights are surrounded with the Taitsky Moraine Ridges. Moraine also overlays the Izhora Hills with the highest points situated here. The relative elevation of the hills above the surface is from 30 to 70 meters (almost 100 meters above the Duderhof Lake). Most of the hills and ridges are covered with forest dominated by broad-leave species (maple and ash). The Duderhof Heights is a famous recreational and tourist site as well as a nature sanctuary.

References: Хазанович К. К. Геологические памятники Ленинградской области. Л., 1982. С. 35-39; Лелина В. И. Дорога на Дудергоф // Нева. 1993. № 7. С. 263-272.

Y. P. Seliverstov.