Duderhof Heights or Duderhof Hills (russian: Дудергофские высоты; german: Duderhofer Höhen) is a small highland area in the southwestern part of

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

(

Krasnoselsky District Krasnoselsky District is the name of several administrative and municipal districts in Russia. *Krasnoselsky District, Moscow, a district in Central Administrative Okrug of the federal city of Moscow *Krasnoselsky District, Saint Petersburg, a ...

). The nearest railway station, Mozhayskaya (formerly Duderhof) of the Ligovo-Krasnoye Selo-

Gatchina The town of Gatchina ( rus, Га́тчина, , ˈɡatːɕɪnə, links=y) serves as the administrative center of the Gatchinsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies south-south-west of St. Petersburg, along the E95 highway which ...

railroad (constructed in 1859), is situated immediately to the west of the hills.

Geography

The heights are located to the south of the town of

Krasnoye Selo Krasnoye Selo (russian: Кра́сное Село́, lit. ''Red village''). Г. П. Смолицкая. "Топонимический словарь Центральной России". "Армада-Пресс", 2002 is a munic ...

, on the northern edge of the Izhora Plateau, which consists of several hills, most notably, the Orekhovaya hill (russian: Ореховая гора, lit. ''Hazel Hill'', ), the highest point of Saint Petersburg at 176 m (577'), in the south, and the Voronya hill (russian: Воронья гора, lit. ''Crow Hill'', ), 147 m (482'), in the north. Sometimes other smaller hills are considered part of the area as well: the Lysaya hill (russian: Лысая гора, lit. ''Bald Hill'') further northward, the Kirchhof hill (russian: гора Кирхгоф) to the east, and the Kavelakhtinskaya ridge (russian: Кавелахтинская гряда) further to the south (however, all the smaller hills are situated in

Leningrad Oblast Leningrad Oblast ( rus, Ленинградская область, Leningradskaya oblast’, lʲɪnʲɪnˈgratskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ, , ) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It was established on 1 August 1927, although it was not until 1 ...

rather than in Saint Petersburg).

Flora

Since 1992 the Orekhovaya and Voronya hills have been designated as

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

(of about ), divided by Sovetskaya Street of the settlement Dudergof into two parts. Nowadays both hills are mostly covered by broadleaf forests (with ''

Acer platanoides ''Acer platanoides'', commonly known as the Norway maple, is a species of maple native to eastern and central Europe and western Asia, from Spain east to Russia, north to southern Scandinavia and southeast to northern Iran. It was introduced to ...

'', ''

Fraxinus excelsior ''Fraxinus excelsior'', known as the ash, or European ash or common ash to distinguish it from other types of ash, is a flowering plant species in the olive family Oleaceae. It is native throughout mainland Europe east to the Caucasus and Albor ...

'', '' Tilia cordata'', ''

Ulmus glabra ''Ulmus glabra'' Hudson, the wych elm or Scots elm, has the widest range of the European elm species, from Ireland eastwards to the Urals, and from the Arctic Circle south to the mountains of the Peloponnese and Sicily, where the species reaches i ...

'', ''

Quercus robur ''Quercus robur'', commonly known as common oak, pedunculate oak, European oak or English oak, is a species of flowering plant in the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. It is a large tree, native to most of Europe west of the Caucasus. It is widel ...

'', ''

Corylus avellana ''Corylus avellana'', the common hazel, is a species of flowering plant in the birch family Betulaceae. It is native to Europe and western Asia. It is an important component of the hedgerows that were the traditional field boundaries in lowland E ...

''), very uncommon for the region situated in the

taiga Taiga (; rus, тайга́, p=tɐjˈɡa; relates to Mongolic and Turkic languages), generally referred to in North America as a boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, sp ...

belt, and have a peculiar fauna and flora. The steep slopes of the hills and alkaline soils on the

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...

bedrock are also notable. For a critically endangered species of

weevil Weevils are beetles belonging to the superfamily Curculionoidea, known for their elongated snouts. They are usually small, less than in length, and herbivorous. Approximately 97,000 species of weevils are known. They belong to several families, ...

, ''Otiorhynchus rugosus'' Humm., this is the only known location in European Russia. This is also the only site in Saint Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast where European Beech is able to overwinter in cultivation, albeit suffering considerable dieback. The vegetation on the hills hasn't remained intact and has been subject to heavy anthropogenic influence for the last two centuries. In the first half of the 19th century a

landscape garden The English landscape garden, also called English landscape park or simply the English garden (french: Jardin à l'anglaise, it, Giardino all'inglese, german: Englischer Landschaftsgarten, pt, Jardim inglês, es, Jardín inglés), is a sty ...

was laid down on the Orekhovaya hill. During the

Siege of Leningrad The siege of Leningrad (russian: links=no, translit=Blokada Leningrada, Блокада Ленинграда; german: links=no, Leningrader Blockade; ) was a prolonged military blockade undertaken by the Axis powers against the Soviet city of ...

(1941-1944) the battlefront ran through the hills and they became almost completely deforestated. German artillery positions shelling the city were situated on the Voronya hill. The hills are still a popular

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In Nort ...

. The surrounding area is totally devoid of forests and mostly built up.

Geography

Flora

See also

Further reading